Pujara, Rahane hone skills ahead of Tests
BANGALORE: The ICC World Test Championship has witnessed greater intensity levels across teams in its first two months. While India had to work hard for a win in the West Indies, New Zealand drew 1-1 in Sri Lanka. In all likelihood, there could be a long wait to witness another Test series as intense as the recent Ashes.
For India, who have zoomed ahead at the top of the table with 120 points followed by New Zealand at 60, it is imperative they maintain the lead and momentum.
The No 1 team for the last three years, India began the year sealing a historic Test series i n Au s t r a l i a , a n d resumed with a 2-0 series victory over West Indies.
Their next Test assignment is 10 days away, but at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) here, preparations have been t op notch f or s e veral Indian players who are not a part of the T20I series against South Africa.
Cheteshwar Pujara, who had a quiet series in the Caribbean, Ajinkya Rahane, who returned to scoring a century after a long wait, Mayank Agarwal, who is chasing a maiden Test ton, and bowlers including Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Ravichandran Ashwin and Jasprit Bumrah have all toiled in Bengaluru ahead of I ndia’s second series of t he championship.
On Friday, the presence of Rahul Dravid, NCA’S Head of Cricket, at the optional Indian nets took some attention off the struggling KL Rahul and Rishabh Pant.
On Saturday morning, the shadow of the Indian batting legend loomed large over the nets where the Test players, based here since the last week or so, trained for a couple of hours.
With no other Indian coach present—busy ahead of the final T20 game to be played on Sunday—dravid spent time with the batsmen.
Pujara, Rahane and Agarwal not only had long batting sessions, but also one-on-one discussions with the former India captain.
The scene was different on Friday, with India pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah bowling full steam to Pujara and Rahane, who looked in rhythm against a world-class bowler. Bhuvneshwar, who was present on both days, and Hanuma Vihari did not take part in the nets.
PUJARA CATCHING PRACTICE
Dravid spoke individually with the batsmen, but it was with the India No 3 with whom he spent the most time with. Pujara, who has taken over the crucial batting spot since Dravid retired, was seen discussing the crouchi ng s t a nc e , a nd a l s o what appeared to be about playing shots off the pads.
Dravid monitored each batsman, standing in the umpire’s position. But when Pujara finished batting on Saturday, the two had a catching session with a tennis ball and racquet on a practice pitch.
Dravid and Pujara stood at either end of the pitch. Two young players were positioned either side of the pitch at midpoint, and asked to throw a seasoned (red) ball across as Dravid hit the tennis ball to Pujara. The idea was for the balls to cross paths and help Pujara—he had to focus on the tennis ball— improve his concentration level. Pujara did not drop any catch.
CAMARADERIE
On a sunny and hot morning, Proteas pacer Anrich Nortje bowled full steam at the NCA nets while the South African team trained inside the M Chinnaswamy Stadium. Kagiso Rabada joined him after a while, but only had a light bowling session, rolling his arm over without any run-up.
Rahane and Agarwal took turns to bat in the nearby net, and Rahane at one point walked up to chat with Rabada. The South Africa fast bowler carries huge responsibilities on this tour with the Tests to follow. Dravid too walked up to have a chat with him.
Not far away, Mumbai batting mainstay Siddhesh Lad was batting. The batsman looked in tremendous rhythm, mostly meeting the ball with the middle of the bat, head steady and feet moving well.