India began their preparations for the England match in the ongoing ICC World Cup 2023 in Lucknow. India has won all of its five matches thus far, while England recently lost to Sri Lanka, their fourth defeat in five matches.
For India, it will be a huge task to face a hurting England side, as they will be without the services of all-rounder Hardik Pandya. Pandya twisted his ankle against Bangladesh and has reportedly suffered a grade 1 ligament strain. There is no update on his return and hence the Men in Blue side is preparing for contingencies.
The key highlight of India’s first net session in Lucknow on Thursday was Virat Kohli, Shubman Gill, and Suryakumar Yadav rolling their arms over to be ready in case they are needed to bowl against England.
Kohli, who completed Hardik’s over in Pune against Bangladesh after the all-rounder went off due to an ankle injury, was the first to bowl, sending down around a dozen balls to captain Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill.
Surya was the one to bowl the most in the nets among the three designated to perform the sixth bowler’s role. He even got the ball to turn big and deceived Shreyas Iyer, earning a bear hug from R Ashwin.
After bowling with Ashwin for 15 minutes, Suryakumar moved to the adjoining net to bowl at Rohit Sharma, along with Ravindra Jadeja.
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Notably, Jasprit Bumrah and Ravindra Jadeja also tried bowling with their non-dominant hands. Bumrah bowled with his left hand and Jadeja was seen bowling with his right hand.
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Shubman Gill and Mohammed Siraj had a duel of sorts during their 30-minute session. Every time after beating the outside edge, he would shadow-practice the forward defense in an apparent coaching tip to Siraj.
The specialist bowlers spend time honing their batting skills, with Jasprit Bumrah being the first to bat in the nets. He took throwdowns from batting coach Vikram Rathour and batted for 45 minutes.
Mohammed Shami and Ishan Kishan were the only two members of the squad who skipped the optional training session.
(Indian Express inputs)
