MELBOURNE: Net sessions sometimes work as a giant book of revelation. The sessions can reveal what's been discussed inside the dressing room. What is on a batter's mind; or what line a bowler would be looking at or what length he would prefer? On Saturday in Melbourne, India's net session had a sprinkling of all the above.
The India batters were trying to plug a hole that led to their demise more often than not. They were focused on leaving the ball alone outside off stump.
A cold, breezy Saturday welcomed the Indian cricket team to Melbourne. The conditions did not deter Rohit Sharma and Co from sweating it out during the intense training session in the first half of the day here. Having arrived in the city after the draw in Brisbane, India had a rest day before turning up at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
In what was a full-strength session, the team's concentration was largely on leaving the ball as much as possible while trying to cover the off-stump, especially for the top order batters. From Virat Kohli to Rohit Sharma to Shubman Gill, India’s main batters have been struggling for form and the team needs them to perform.
Kohli was among the first to hit the nets and his focus was predominantly on leaving the balls on the rise while focusing only on deliveries that he has to. The former India captain preferred to leave the balls outside off and hit those within his reach.
Sharma, meanwhile, was focusing on getting in the line and defending pacers while using his feet against the spinners. Speaking of which, with R Ashwin retired, Washington Sundar and Ravindra Jadeja bowled long spells, with head coach Gautam Gambhir watching them closely. Sharma was constantly talking to Washington almost after every delivery giving him feedback on how the ball was coming on.
Sharma and Kohli then switched nets with the latter playing spinners. Kohli, surprisingly, looked better taking on spinners, using his hands to smother the bounce while even sweeping and reverse-sweeping occasionally.
Meanwhile, KL Rahul looked at home, as he has throughout the series in the middle, barely putting a foot wrong. He batted just like he has done so far in the middle, leaving everything he can while playing the shots when he absolutely had to. His opening partner, Yashasvi Jaiswal, too took quite a fair bit of throw down especially from hard lengths before facing the pacers - Prasidh Krishna, Harshit Rana - who did not start in Brisbane.
While Kohli got all the attention in the outdoor nets, which the public had an aerial view of, Gill spent the most time in the middle. He took multiple stints, spending as much time as possible during the session. It is nothing new if one has followed Gill. He almost never misses practice and has looked good in the nets. However, it has not been translated into results. As he returns to the ground where he debuted, Gill will be looking for a turnaround.
Rishabh Pant too had a long stint and even a longer chat with Gambhir. After his batting was done, Gambhir and Pant spent close to 45 minutes together having a one-on-one chat.
Once it was done, Pant and bowling coach Morne Morkel too had a chat before the keeper-batter took some pictures with the fans.
Amidst all this, one person who would be looking to carry forward the momentum from Brisbane is Jadeja. While admittedly he would miss his “on-field mentor” in Ashwin, Jadeja felt that it also opens up opportunities for youngsters who are waiting in the ranks.
“Hopefully, Indian cricket will get another good bowler like him, an all-rounder like him. It’s not as if there is no one in India who can’t take his place. Obviously, there is a replacement for everyone. We must move on but I feel it is also a good opportunity for whichever youngster comes into the team and plays for India and to prove himself at this level,” Jadeja told the media after training.
He also said that doing well in Melbourne would be crucial for India in the context of retaining the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
“It’s a good thing that we are in this situation. After three matches, it is 1-1 and the two remaining matches will be interesting. If we win even one Test from here, we will be keeping the trophy with us. It’s a great chance, one good chance. We shall see Sydney when we get there. We have the next match here, it is a very important and crucial,” he said.