Debasis Sen in Leeds
The stage is set for the first Test match between India and England, which begins on Friday at the Headingley Cricket Ground. Both the teams had an optional practice session on Thursday. While England have announced their playing XI, India’s team management is still undecided on the batting order.
The focus of the practice session was both the Indian openers. It will be a huge challenge for Yashasvi Jaiswal to give India a solid start along with KL Rahul. While it is Rahul’s third Test tour of England, it will be the first time Jaiswal marks his guard in a Test in conditions that are typically helpful for pace bowling.
Jaiswal has made an outstanding start to his Test career, scoring 1,798 runs at 52.88 from just 19 Tests. He was the pick of the Indian batters on the tour of Australia, scoring 391 runs, but England would have taken note of his struggles in the two Tests in South Africa in 2023-24, on pitches that were loaded in favour of the quicks.
On the eve of the Headingley Test, the 23-year-old Mumbai batter was seen giving special instructions to throwdown specialist Raghavendra. Jaiswal insisted that Raghu give him throwdowns from 18 yards to get used to the extra bounce. He was also heard saying: “Yeh practice wicket slow ho gaya (this practice wicket has gotten a bit slow).”
Jaiswal also practised standing outside the crease to counter the swing on offer. It goes without saying that the conditions will be challenging at Headingley, with the pitch expecte to have a healthy covering of grass on it. Batting coach Sitanshu Kotak was also seen giving inputs to Jaiswal while he was netting. Later, after his time in the nets, Jaiswal spent some time with Gautam Gambhir, the head coach, as well.