India hit the ground running with sense of renewed purpose.
With the rest of his gear in place, KL Rahul had all but put his gloves on to commence yet another nets session on Wednesday (December 23) afternoon. It would have been his third for the day. It felt like a belated thought considering the rest of his teammates had begun packing up to leave. Eventually it wasn't to be. For, he'd been informed by the security officer that time had run out for the Indian team. Rahul's polite remonstrations were to no avail, just like batting coach Vikram Rathour's attempts to fit in a quick hit for his batsman in the indoor nets while sounding like someone trying their best to delay the last order in a restaurant. Rahul and Rathour had no choice but to walk away shaking their heads.
The Karnataka right-hander's ultra-eagerness to extend his stint under a rather potent Melbourne sun was in a way symptomatic of the mood in the Indian camp three days out from the Boxing Day Test. This was their first outing since the 36 all out debacle in Adelaide last Saturday. This was their first chance to show the world and themselves to an extent that they were ready to move on. And there were enough signs during the two or so hours they spent at the MCG that the visitors were more than eager to hit the ground running with a sense of renewed purpose. Rahul after all wasn't the only Indian batsman keen on getting a few extra hits in.
Coach Ravi Shastri was the first man out to the nets. And he began by inspecting each one of the four surfaces. He was followed closely by throwdown specialist Raghu, who went about his usual routine of selecting balls for each net and placing them near the stump at the bowler's end. That is before he went off to warm up his valuable shoulder.
Mayank Agarwal was the first batsman out and Shastri wasted no time in getting in his ear. He in fact walked him to his batting end. The two then had a chat before India's senior opener got going. There were a couple of edges and a streaky inside-edge within the first 7-8 balls that Agarwal faced and Shastri was in there again making a point. The sounds of "shottt Mayank.." echoed around the MCG repeatedly over the subsequent half hour before it was time for Rathour to jump in with Agarwal. At one stage, having moved to the adjacent net, the right-hander remarked his guard, asking for middle having stood at leg stump previously. And a bemused Shastri was quick to butt in asking the opener, who made 17 and 9 in Adelaide without looking convincing, to not change things around to such an extent. Agarwal nodded back and spent the next 20 minutes swapping between the different nets. Alongside him were Shubman Gill, all set to make his debut on Saturday (December 26), and Cheteshwar Pujara, all set to resume his role as the foundation stone of the Indian batting line-up once more.
You couldn't help but wonder if Gill batting ahead of Prithvi Shaw during practice was a potential sign of the youngster from Punjab coming in for his former under-19 captain at the top of the order. Gill looked at his fluent best but was found a tad wanting whenever faced with length deliveries that took off from outside off-stump. Shastri though had a keen eye on him and chose to be less animated with him when making suggestions. Shaw did come out to bat but he was confined to the net closest to the concourse and only faced batting coach Rathour with a sidearm. The two had numerous chats during the course of the 15-minute session with Rathour walking down and putting an arm around the young opener every time he played a false shot. There seemed to be a focus on Shaw getting his feet movement in order and making sure he was getting behind the line of the ball, receiving plaudits every time he did so. That he didn't face any of the bowlers in the other nets could well be a sign that the Indian team management is working on specifics with the Mumbai batsman after his double failure in the first Test. While Shaw and Agarwal hogged the coaches' attention, a very positive sign was brewing for India in the spinners' net. Ravindra Jadeja seemed to have got back to nearly full fitness as he wheeled away, bowling for over an hour, and enjoying himself while at it. He then padded up for a lengthy net, at times even managing to face two extra deliveries off the throw down specialists despite Bharat Arun's distinctive whistle having signalled the swap. Jadeja wasn't done though, and returned later for an additional hit, facing Rathour in the net previously occupied by Shaw. Pujara was another one to do the same and he kept asking the batting consultant to try and get the ball to seam away from him after coming in from a slightly wide angle. This was Pujara doing what all great batsman do, trying to eliminate any chance of him getting out the way he did in the second innings of the Adelaide Test for no score.
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