Subhayan Chakraborty in Birmingham
After a five-wicket defeat in Headingley, Team India started their preparation for the crucial second Test at Edgbaston in Birmingham on Friday. The visitors started their day with an intense fielding session with all the players participating in it. The Indians had dropped multiple game-changing catches in the first Test to go 0-1 down in the five-match series.
After the fielding session, which included slip catching, flat catching and direct hit drills, all the players barring Jasprit Bumrah and Prasidh Krishna, hit the nets to fine-tune their game in the build-up to the Edgbaston Test. Bumrah and Krishna focused on fitness and running drills after the catching session. Mohammed Siraj joined them after going through a bit of batting at the nets. Assistant coach Ryan ten Doeschate had a specific batting drill with Siraj focusing on just short deliveries. The three main pacers — Bumrah, Siraj and Krishna — didn’t bowl at the nets.
The focus was also on Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav and Washington Sundar as the spin troika operated at one net, and bowled extensively for an hour. With the Headingley pitch anticipated to be a bit dry and flat due to the heat, India could opt for two spinners in the XI, bringing Kuldeep and Sundar into the mix. Both Kuldeep and Sundar were getting decent purchase from the practice pitch and troubled Rishabh Pant with the sharp turn they extracted.
Arshdeep Singh and Akash Deep bowled full throttle along with Shardul Thakur and Nitish Kumar Reddy. If any of the pacers from the first Test is rested, then Arshdeep or Akash could play the second Test. Both of them bowled with new and old balls. With the new ball, they got enough movement to challenge the edge of the batters like Shubman Gill, Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul and Pant.
While the batters rotated at the nets as per their batting positions — Jaiswal and Rahul, Gill and Pant — the other rotation was between Sai Sudharsan and Karun Nair. There could be food for thought to drop either of them to bring in Reddy, while also going with a specialist spinner in Kuldeep or Sundar in place of Thakur. After completing their nets, Sudharsan and Sundar both had knocking sessions with Ten Doeschate.
Head coach Gautam Gambhir was pretty animated as was bowling coach Morne Morkel as they had long chats with individuals. Gambhir was seen having a lengthy discussion with Arshdeep whereas Morkel was constantly having a word with Nitish. At the end of the nets, chief selector Ajit Agarkar had a 20-minute chat with captain Gill.
India will have an optional session at the Edgbaston on Saturday, while England will assemble in the city after enjoying a couple of days of days off.
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