Rain prevented the Indians from practising outdoors, so everyone except Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli participated in a recorded indoor practise match versus left-arm throwdown expert.
Rain prevented the Indians from practising outdoors, so everyone except Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli participated in a recorded indoor practise match versus left-arm throwdown expert
The Sri Lankan Nuwan Seneviratne, the team’s throwdown specialist, and the Indian data analyst Hari Prasad Mohan were the two men who India’s batters paid the most attention to on Thursday at the indoor nets in Colombo. Before playing Pakistan, India had focused on overcoming their most glaring weakness: left-armer Shaheen Afridi’s atomic curlers. Seneviratne was using a ball-slinging device to curve in inswingers and away-shapers, while Hari was meticulously noting the Indian batsmen’s footwork and technique on his tab.
The others worked out physically and intellectually on a rainy day while Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli chose not to participate in the optional nets at the Gamini Dissanayaka Indoor facility at the Nondescript Cricket Club. Shubman Gill, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, in for his first training session with the squad since recovering from injury, and the others would hunch down to dig further into the footage once their attention on Seneviratne was done after their period. Was playing away from the body caused by the front feet coming too far across or being trapped too far back? These questions have plagued India not only while facing Shaheen but also other left-arm swingers throughout the world.
Both head coach Rahul Dravid and batting coach Vikram Rathour chose to give throwdowns in nearby nets rather than closely monitor how the batsmen were performing against Seneviratne, which may have been done on purpose to avoid adding to the pressure.
