SOUTHAMPTON: The Indian team hadn’t yet taken the field when coach Ravi Shastri knelt down on the Ageas Bowl pitch, trying to figure out its nature. He had his reasons – India have been in England for more than a month, but not once have played on a strip which looked green.
Here at Southampton, though, the crucial 22 yards does have a fair sprinkling of grass and it’s quite clear England are trying to wrap up the series with their pace attack following the rude shock in Nottingham. But India, too, seem to be well prepared.
They have a pace attack that can challenge any opposition and Tuesday’s practice session suggested that efforts were on to make paceman Umesh Yadav, who was dropped after the first Test, game ready. During the first half an hour of practice, captain Virat Kohli had a long chat with fast bowlers Umesh, Mohammed Shami and Ishant Sharma – who had their pads on – and the discussion was probably about batting.
Right after that, all three had prolonged knocking sessions which indicated that the team wants the three bowlers in some sort of rhythm with the bat as well. Playing Umesh would mean that India would have to go in with five pace bowlers – something that they did in Johannesburg earlier this year to notch up a famous win. And it would also mean leaving out both R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja, even though the duo bowled for quite a while at the nets.
Shami plays down pacer theory
Ashwin is recovering from a groin strain and even though he batted and bowled on Tuesday, there was no official communication from the team on whether he would be fit for the Test. When the five-pace attack theory was floating around, the locals with a good knowledge of the pitch insisted “it won’t do as much for the pacers as it seems”. And Indian paceman Mohammad Shami, too, tried to play down the five-pace attack theory. “It’s difficult to play five pacers, what if the ball starts to turn in 3-4 days? But all I can say is that there will be a result on this pitch and it should be a good result for us,” Shami said.
While the sense of ambiguity around the nature of the pitch remained, the Indian team looked a relaxed lot. There was the odd laugh and joke being shared as Kohli did a long knocking session alongside the likes of Cheteshwar Pujara, KL Rahul and Ajinkya Rahane. It seems the sombre mood in the team after the losses in the first two Tests is a thing of the past.
Race against time for Bairstow
England, on the other hand, are desperate to get Jonny Bairstow fit for the Test. The wicketkeeper suffered a knock on his finger but he insists he will be ready to bat, if not keep as well. “I wasn’t able to put my hand in my pocket a few days ago, but that’s absolutely fine now. We’ll see how it goes, but I’m confident that I’ll be able to do some things because I can grip now,” Bairstow said.
Curran likely for Woakes
England allrounder Chris Woakes suffered an injury on his right thigh and skipped England’s practice session. Sam Curran got a long bowl and is likely to replace Woakes.
Be the first to comment