Subhayan Chakraborty
It was a typical Manchester Tuesday, with rains gripping the city, hampering the practice sessions of the England and India teams on the eve of the fourth Test at Old Trafford Cricket Ground. Both sides opted for indoor nets. After a fiery press conference, Shubman Gill, along with KL Rahul, Karun Nair, Dhruv Jurel, Sai Sudharsan, Abhimanyu Easwaran and Arshdeep Singh attended the optional session.
Rahul was the first to bat, but it was a brief stint for the senior opener at the nets, while Gill, as he generally does, had an extended session. Sai, continuing his routine, did not bat on the eve of the game, and it remains to be seen whether he returns to the XI. Gill batted the longest, showing his hunger to get back among the runs after a lean Lord’s Test.
The indoor matting does not replicate the natural feel of the pitch, so Rahul batted for just 20 minutes. The focus for Rahul, who has already scored two centuries in the series, was on the basics as he faced the throwdown specialists without fuss. While they focused on swinging the ball, Rahul was compact in his defence and drives, leaving the majority of deliveries outside off.
Nair, who has made 131 runs in six innings in the series, mostly batted against the bowling machine, focusing on driving the ball close to his body. He was careful about his off stump and left balls in the fifth-stump region. With pressure mounting on Nair to convert his 30s and 40s into big scores, and Sai breathing down his neck, it will be interesting to see his approach in Manchester if he is picked.
Captain Gill warmed up with throwdowns from 14-16 yards before facing full-fledged throwdowns. He was seamless against shorter deliveries, pulling them with ease. His drives and defence were also on point. Gill had consistent chats with batting coach Sitanshu Kotak after Lord’s, where he scored 16 and 6.
After 20 minutes, Gill moved to an adjacent net and faced a couple of local bowlers while the throwdown specialists kept hurling rockets at him. While the batter was timing sweetly, a couple of deliveries that missed the middle of his bat irked him. Gill then moved to another net to take more throwdowns, showing his hunger to bat long and return to scoring big. After completing his batting, Gill took some slip catches assisted by fielding coach T Dilip.
Meanwhile, the weather forecast for Manchester looks grim for the first two days of the fourth Test, with overcast skies and spells of showers expected throughout that period. England lead the five-match series 2-1.
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