As India prepared for the fourth BGT 2024 Test against Australia in Melbourne, T Dilip, the fielding coach had something unique set up for the players. India and Australia are level 1-1 after three Tests, as India won in Perth, Australia in Adelaide and the Brisbane Test ended in a draw.
Two days ahead of the MCG Test, Melbourne is slightly overcast, and hence, to prep the fielders up for what promises to be a highly engaging Test match. This led to T Dilip organizing a new and unique fielding drill, with a cash prize of 300 dollars to be won.
There were three groups of players with Dhruv Jurel, Sarfaraz Khan, and Mohammed Siraj as captains. Sarfaraz Khan’s group consisted of Virat Kohli, Devdutt Padikkal, A Easwaran, Harshit Rana, and Yashasvi Jaiswal. Mohammed Siraj’s group had Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant, Akash Deep and Nitish Reddy.
Dhruv Jurel-led side had Ravindra Jadeja, Shubman Gill, Prasidh Krishna, and Washington Sundar in it.
"Today's target, you can see three stumps. The bigger stump will have one point, the smaller stump will have two points, and the ball in the center will have four points. We are using angles today. You can see three markers. From each marker, each one will go six balls," Dilip told the players in a video posted by BCCI.
"The key objective for me today was getting all together and making sure that before we kick off into the nets, we get some energy going, and together as a group, when we work, it's outstanding,” he added.
Players gained points for being the first to complete a throw in this competitive practice that focused on honing the Relay Throw technique. As the word "relay" implies, the exercise required several fielders to work together in order to throw accurately to the wicketkeeper or stumps.
The practice was broken up into two phases rather than depending on a single long toss from the deep. A teammate who was closer would pick up the ball thrown by the first fielder from the boundary and throw it in the direction of the target.
Dilip first asked the fast bowlers, who are renowned for their powerful arms and deep-fielding duties, to take charge of the exercise.
Here is the video:
In the end, Dhruv Jurel, whose side had Jasprit Bumrah, Ravindra Jadeja, Shubman Gill, Prasidh Krishna, and Washington Sundar, won the prize of $300.
