When on the road in the middle of a tournament, the nets sessions for the Indian men's cricket team are generally optional, considering all the travel involved. But the Rohit Sharma-led team, which has won its first three ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 games resoundingly, is not letting the intensity waver in the lead-up to its clash with Bangladesh in Pune on Thursday. In what has emerged as a recurring pattern, the hosts have trained at full tilt, even two days prior to match day. (Scorecard | Streaming | Full Coverage)
Be it for any of their first three matches - against Australia in Chennai, Afghanistan in Delhi and arch-rivals Pakistan in Ahmedabad - every single team member arrives for the session 48 hours before the encounter but on the day before, it is usually the reserve players, who do not get as much time in the nets as the playing XI regulars, that land along with the support staff. On Tuesday, captain Rohit too tried out his off-spin for a while but stopped soon after all-rounder Hardik Pandya took a liking to it.
Will Both Bumrah And Siraj Play?
India's ace pacers Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj have now featured in three games within a span of seven days and have to compete in two more in a space of four days. Furthermore, the current Bangladesh World Cup squad doesn't seem to have the firepower as some of its predecessors. Thus, it would be worth noting whether India consider picking Mohammed Shami for Thursday's game against the Shakib Al Hasan-led team.
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The decision also assumes importance given that the match succeeding that will be played at the pace-friendly Dharamsala venue against New Zealand, a side that has time and again been a thorn in India's flesh. But it might eventually come to a measure of the trio's workload and also if Bumrah and Siraj want rest. All the three speedsters bowled with full intensity at the evening nets on Tuesday.
Extended Nets For Kohli, Rohit, Gill
India’s top three comprising Shubman Gill, Rohit and Virat Kohli hit the nets first with the team's pace-bowling attack in operation, including Pandya. Among Gill, Rohit and Virat, Virat continued to bat at the nets for the longest time while Pandya played some breathtaking inside-out shots over the cover region.
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Watch Virat hitting a big one straight down the ground to signal his intentions ahead of the crucial Bangladesh clash.
When the next batch of batters came along, prime India off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin bowled to talismanic all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja, while middle-order batter Shreyas Iyer faced throwdown specialists. In the adjacent nets, reserve wicketkeeper-batter Ishan Kishan, who played in the first two games against Australia and Afghanistan, faced Siraj and wrist spinner Kuldeep Yadav in tandem.
India wicketkeeper-batter KL Rahul did some fielding drills before he went on to bat, and found Virat back in the nearby nets facing throwdowns while the others such as Gill left for fielding drills. After some catching practice, Gill came back to bat again.
Close to the end of what turned out to be a three-hour-long session, India batting coach Vikram Rathour gave throwdowns to Suryakumar Yadav for an extended period in which the hard-hitting batter unleashed his strokes, but often mistimed them too. Having found an edge off Suryakumar’s bat off a short ball, Rathour even celebrated the dismissal with his arms held high.
Shakib Attends Bangladesh Nets
Bangladesh too had an extended full-fledged nets session earlier in the day. Having lost two games in a row, The Tigers trained for over three hours in the afternoon heat with skipper Shakib Al Hasan in attendance. Shakib had suffered a quad injury to his left leg last Friday in Chennai during their match against New Zealand.
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Whether Shakib will be available for the match against India depends on how the all-rounder fares in training in the lead-up to the game, even as he batted for a while in the nets on Tuesday and even struck a few sixes to check how his left leg was responding to the workload.
Veteran Bangladesh wicketkeeper-batter Mushfiqur Rahim, who has hit two half-centuries in the side's last two games, also had a good stint in the nets, smashing the bowlers into the stands with ease.
(With PTI inputs)
