After paying their respect to the deceased Australian batsman, Phillip Hughes, for three days, Team India finally had some practice at the centre wicket of the Adelaide Oval. After having agreed to abandon their second two-day warm-up match, against Cricket Australia XI, the Indian team simulated a match situation during their practice session.
Murali Vijay and Cheteshwar Pujara batted first at either end, while Umesh Yadav and Varun Aaron started the bowling proceedings. Wriddhiman Saha was behind the stumps, while the slip cordon was also in place. The two batsmen knocked off a few balls off the pacers, often in the direction of the two slips. There were some fine shots played when spinners, Ravichandran Ashwin and Karn Sharma came on.
After a good 30 minutes in the middle, Vijay and Pujara made way for Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma. Aaron and Yadav continued for a while before the end and the bowlers were changed. Ishant Sharma, who didn’t bowl at all in the first warm-up match, then took turns to bowl along with Mohammad Shami. After a brief bat, Rohit handed one end of the wicket to Shikhar Dhawan.
The next to bat were Suresh Raina, Ajinkya Rahane and Wriddhiman Saha. Raina mainly faced Ashwin and the part-time slow bowlers, Ravindra Jadeja and Vijay. When the team returned to the centre after a lunch break, Raina came on to bat again, this time to face the fast bowlers. He and Shikhar, at the other end, batted as Umesh and two net bowlers took turn to bowl at them.
Umesh tested his team mates with some short pitched stuff, which they copped quite well. Ishant did take a bit of time to settle into his rhythm in the first session, but when he did, he looked sharp and lethal in the second. Vijay and Pujara joined each other once again, facing a variety of fast bowlers with relative ease. In all, the Indian team had a thorough practice with bat and ball for around four and a half hours.
All the while India’s bowling coach, Bharat Arun, stood at the position of the umpire at the non-striker’s end and watched his wards’ performance closely. Duncan Fletcher could mostly be found behind standing behind the keeper, observing the proceedings.
On Thursday, after hearing the news of Phil Hughes’ death, the Indian team wrapped up their practice immediately. They accepted CA’s request to call off their second warm-up match, which was due to start on Friday and also refrained from practicing on the main ground that day, instead having their nets in the indoor facility at the Adelaide Oval.
By: BCCI
