Ishan Kishan had his work cut out on the first day of India’s practice session at the Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium, Jamtha Nagpur on the practices pitches just outside the main ground and under the watchful eyes of the batting coach Vikram Rathour. the 24-year-old had his trial by spin.
With Rishabh Pant out of action for at least 18 months, India do not have their Gabba hero from two years on. From 2021 to 2013 a lot has changed, yet certain things seem to have remained the same.
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Filling in the Pant void has been one of the major talking points leading up to the series even if it may be a myopic view to only look at what Pant brings to the table with regards to changing the complexion of the game in just over an hour with his sheer audacity, the larger question team India will be asking is how to replace Pant the wicketkeeper.
Back to Ishan, and after his stellar 200-run knock against Bangladesh in the ODIs, the former Under-19 skipper has blown hot and cold – more cold than hot in terms of his batting and a few drops in the recently concluded New Zealand series did not inspire much confidence behind the stumps as well.
At the Jamtha, as India’s opening pair – in all likelihood KL Rahul and Rohit Sharma – has the first crack at the practice session with Mohammad Shami and Mohammad Siraj bowling in tandem, followed by Ravindra Jadeja and Kuldeep Yadav at the centre wicket – Kishan was toiling away against a host of net bowlers – predominately spinners which included Jayant Yadav, Washington Sundar, Saurabh Kumar, Rahul Chahar and few local bowlers. Kishan had an extended session with regular inputs from Rathore.
The focus was on turning deliveries, with the left-handed often going on his backfoot and trying to manoeuvre the ball square of the wicket, with reasonable success. A discussion with the coach on those lines followed, in which Virat Kohli also chimed in.
With the need to win the series to book a berth in the World Test Championship final, India need a head start in Nagpur in the series opener and fair to say – even if Ian Healy might disagree – a spin-friendly track will be on offer, making the keeper’s job even tougher, and not to mention the heightened scrutiny.
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Srikar Bharat too would have his work cut out if he is picked for the Nagpur Test – a much safer choice as a wicketkeeper one would assume foreshadowing Rahul Dravid’s mindset here. And it was evident from the practice session as Bharat spent the longest time at the centre wicket keeping to the likes of Siraj, Shami, Kuldeep and Jadeja. In comparison to Kishan, Bharat had a very light batting session, that too on the practice pitches outside of the main stadium.
Gill in the middle-order?
Another interesting passage during the day was Shubman Gill and Virat Kohli having a crack simultaneously. Are we looking at India’s No.4 and 5? Who knows? Gill has been in the purplest of patches imaginable and Shreyas Iyer’s injury has opened the doors on a platter for Gill to be picked. However, Gill has done a fine job as an opener – 689 runs in 13 matches at 31.31 and the majestic 91 at Brisbane – which gets overshadowed by the lower-order’s heroics in that epic win.
There is no reason to play Gill anywhere but at the top. However, with the skipper and his deputy back to stake a claim, Gill suddenly had no place in the XI, until Iyer’s injury. Suryakumar Yadav is also vying for the place and he too had a decent hit at the nets. SKY or Gill? It will be an interesting call. Will India hand out two debuts in the series opener or play it safe and have Gill – a natural middle-order batter fill in for Iyer for this Test?
Maybe another practice session could make things clear.
As the session drew to a close, Dravid and Rathour inspected the pitch that will be used for the Test. Not much grass covering (circa Nagpur 2004) – but with two days left, only speculation is an ally here.
On to some simpler decisions, Even though Ravichandran Ashwin was not pressed into action much, it is a foregone conclusion that he will occupy the No.8 slot. And with Kuldeep and Jadeja getting a good amount of time at the centre wicket, the signals are clear – three spinners on a turning track, leaving space for only two seamers in Siraj and Shami. Hometown boy Umesh Yadav lurked around the boundary ropes retrieving the loose balls – but how to rule out someone who has 36 wickets in the last seven home games he has played? – In Ian Healy’s words, that’s gotta be unfair, isn’t it?
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