MANCHESTER: Unlike Sunday, it was a bright and sunny morning here at the Old Trafford Cricket Ground on Monday. The surface, which had been under cover due to rain, probably saw the sunlight for the first time in many days.
Despite it being a cheerful day with a lot of happenings on the field, India pacer Akash Deep looked seemingly lost in his thoughts. He was leaning on a roller with padded-up Abhimanyu Easwaran and Dhruv Jurel to his company even as other India pacers were whizzing past him to bowl in the nets at the Trafford Cricket Centre.
Be it Jasprit Bumrah or Mohammed Siraj or Shardul Thakur or Prasidh Krishna or new addition to the squad Anshul Kamboj, everybody was going full throttle. The pacers were also seen chatting with Akash Deep while waiting for their turn to bowl but the Bengal bowler's mind seemed to be somewhere else.
Earlier, he bowled quite a few balls on the surface adjacent to the main square with coach Gautam Gambhir, chief selector Ajit Agarkar and a few others in attendance. Starting with zero run up, he gradually increased it to gain the momentum and pace. But that was it once the team members shifted to adjoining practice nets. Akash Deep, who reportedly has a groin injury casting a doubt on his appearance, was just a spectator even as his teammates toiled.
As was reported on Sunday, the BCCI on Monday morning clarified that Andhra all-rounder Nitish Kumar Reddy has been ruled out of the series with a knee injury and Arshdeep Singh too was out of contention for the next match due to impact injury on his bowling thumb but the Indian cricket board didn't give any update on Akash Deep. However, it was evidently clear from the net session that the 28-year-old is unlikely to be a part of the game.
His absence coupled with injuries to Reddy and Arshdeep forced the visitors to fly in Kamboj to join the squad. The Haryana seamer not only bowled for almost an hour but also batted alongside Thakur for more than 30 minutes giving indication that he might be in line to make his India debut. Kamboj has played 24 first class matches claiming 79 wickets so far. He was also part of India A team which played two matches against England Lions before the five-match series started. The 24-year-old right-arm bowler picked up five wickets and scored an unbeaten 51 in the second game in Northampton.
Later in the day, Siraj confirmed Bumrah will play the match. Despite that Shubman Gill and Co need to try a lot of permutations and combinations to fill up the spot left vacant by Reddy. Akash Deep's injury has only made their task difficult. With what transpired at the nets, it can be anybody's guess who can replace Akash Deep if he fails to recover fully in the next two days but with this team management and how they have gone about their business in the past, it will be imprudent to come to a conclusion.
Mumbai pacer Thakur, who featured in the first Test at Leeds, bowled equally long spells and batted in tandem with Kamboj, which again can be a big hint of him returning to the playing XI. But given the long stint, Tamil Nadu left-hand batter B Sai Sudharsan, who too was dropped after the Leeds match, had, his chances of regaining his spot could not be ruled out. What makes it more intriguing is the fact that Karun Nair, who has yet not converted his starts into big scores putting a question mark on his presence in the playing XI, batted quite long with the likes of KL Rahul, Yashasvi Jaiswal and Gill.
As Ravindra Jadeja and Washington Sundar looked certain for selection as the spin-bowling all-rounders, the mystery over Reddy's replacement only deepens. Karnataka's Prasidh Krishna, who played the first two matches, is also in contention and was impressive with his line and lengths but like Thakur and Kamboj, he didn't bat.
Pant in happy space
Despite all concerns over his fitness, wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant was nonchalant as he faced both pacers and spinners with ease in the nets. Even before he wielded the willow, the dashing batter looked comfortable while doing wicketkeeping drills.
He didn't look in pain and not once took his bottom hand off the bat, which he did regularly during the Lord's Test where he got hit in his left index finger. Pant, in fact, was the chirpiest of all and was even heard saying it augurs well for him whenever he is edgy in the nets. Pant recovering well ahead of the match seems to be the only good news the team has got in the last few days. They can only hope a few are on their way before the contest starts.