Day after rout, Indian players back in nets; Shami set to play in Ahmedabad

New Delhi: A day after an embarrassing nine-wicket rout at the hands of Australia, some of India’s Test squad members were back at the Holkar Stadium for a gruelling 90-minute net session.

With head coach Rahul Dravid and batting coach Vikram Rathour for company, opener Shubman Gill, middle-order batter Shreyas Iyer, all-rounders Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, and left-arm wrist spinner Kuldeep Yadav sweated it out in two nets adjacent to the match strip.

The third Test, played on an extremely turning pitch with variable bounce, ended in just over two days.

While Kuldeep had a long bowl at the nets, the other four enjoyed extended batting sessions against local net bowlers and also faced throwdowns.

There were no experimental or innovative shot selections but plain and simple copybook batting as they looked to get some form back before the fourth and final Test, starting in Ahmedabad from March 9.

Shami set to be back in playing XI

India’s senior-most speedster Mohammed Shami is expected to feature in the playing XI for the final Test after being rested as part of workload management during the Indore game.

The Indian team management, in consultation with its medical staff, has decided to space out the pace bowlers, who are going to play the IPL and are in the ODI World Cup plans.

Hence Shami, who had played the first two Tests and is also a part of the ODI squad, was rested for the third game. In his place, Umesh Yadav was drafted in as the second pacer after Mohammed Siraj.

With Siraj bowling only 24 overs in the first three games for one wicket, Umesh, with his better show in Indore, and who is not part of the white ball set-up, stands a good chance to share the new ball with Shami in Ahmedabad.

Siraj is likely to feature in all three ODIs between March 17 to 22 and will probably get some time off during the final game at the Narendra Modi Stadium.

Shami, who has been the best pacer on view across both teams with seven scalps from 30 odd overs in the series, will be needed on a dry Motera surface that might be conducive for reverse swing.

India are currently leading the series 2-1 but need to win the last game, in order to nullify the result of Sri Lanka’s upcoming away series against New Zealand, and qualify for the World Test Championship final.

GCA curators haven’t received any directive from Team India

The pitch at Holkar Stadium has been rated by ICC match referee Chris Broad as “poor”, and the Gujarat Cricket Association (GCA) is unlikely to risk its reputation by preparing something that attracts the attention of the the game’s governing body for the wrong reason.

“We haven’t received any instructions from the Indian team management and our local curators are preparing a normal track as we have always done through the season,” a state association source told PTI on Saturday.

“In fact, last Ranji game over here in January, Railways scored 500 plus (508) batting first and Gujarat, although suffered innings defeat, scored 200 plus in both innings. It won’t be too different this time,” he said.

There are 96 hours still left for the Test match to begin and one doesn’t know what will happen once BCCI curators Taposh Chatterjee and Ashsh Bhowmick take over.

“Obviously, last few days the BCCI’s grounds and pitches committee instruct the local curator. But, certainly, from our end our endeavour is to produce a good Test match pitch,” the official said.

The last time two Test matches were held in Ahmedabad, they ended in just under two days.

“You have to factor in that the Day/Night Test and the one after that were the first ones held after the stadium was refurbished and you had no clue how the pitch will pan out,” he added.

Kohli visits Mahakaleshwar Temple with wife

With the third Test ending way before schedule, star batter Virat Kohli and wife Anushka Sharma on Saturday visited Shree Mahakaleshwar Temple in Ujjain to offer prayers.

While some of the players stayed back in Indore, a few, including skipper Rohit Sharma, returned to Mumbai and will join the team in Ahmedabad on March 6.