India pacers look to sharpen skills
ISHANT SHARMA HAS FOR VARIOUS REASONS NOT FOUND THE CONSISTENCY TO MATCH MEMORABLE SPELLS STREWN ACROSS HIS DECADELONG CAREER.
NEWDELHI: On Wednesday, darkness had descended at Ferozeshah Kotla before Virat Kohli, delayed by rush hour traffic, arrived for a felicitation function of the Delhi association. Speaking with back to his home ground, the India skipper didn’t seem too concerned about the pitch.
Instructions had been clear on the surface India want for the third and final Test against a reeling Sri Lanka, starting Saturday.
Kohli, whose team is up 1-0 and can claim the series, would have been assured had he reached earlier in the evening. Daljit Singh, head of the BCCI pitches and ground committee, was painstakingly testing the bounce with a cricket ball. The pitch was green, far removed from the barren tracks that usually greet international teams. The ball didn’t bounce above knee level on Wednesday, but watering and rolling should help, and the winter should aid swing.
Preparations on the go for India’s South Africa tour -- first Test starts on January 5 – have been smooth, but Kohli would want the final dress rehearsal to provide assurance.
After his spells on comeback in the Nagpur Test, where his 5/80 paved the way for victory by a record margin, Ishant Sharma in particular has a great opportunity to reproduce that form.
Seniormost in the squad, who will play his 79th Test, Ishant has for various reasons not found the consistency to match memorable spells strewn across his decadelong career.
On Wednesday, the 29-year-old Delhi Ranji skipper, with wife Pratima Singh, stood in the background as a Hall of Fame was being opened in the Kotla pavilion. He had to be goaded to go to the front.
Ishant though will be expected to take centre stage in the Test. And despite a good domestic season, he would know the challenge a Kotla pitch can throw up, having failed to bowl out Assam in a Ranji game to settle for a draw.
If Sri Lanka feel they are being used as punching bag by India, they have themselves to blame, especially their batsmen. Since India rallied to a series win in the final Test in Colombo in 2015, they have not lasted five days in the next five matches. Only the Kolkata match went the distance due to rain curtailing play.
The focus in South Africa will be on India’s rise as a pace power. It was the pacers who got the job done the only two occasions India won a Test in South Africa, in 2006 and 2010.
Ishant’s good run will help settle the pace department. The pacers have for once outshone spinners in a home series, taking 24 wickets to 13 by R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja.