Indian batsmen Sai Sudarshan and Dhruv Jurel both faced a clutch of spinners in the Indian team’s practice session during their final net sessions at the Eden Gardens. According to a PTI report, both of them were playing with their pads off and with an element of risk.
India lost their first match of the South Africa Test series and will fancy their chances in the second match starting in Guwahati from Saturday. India struggled to face the South African spinners, especially Simon Harmer.
Indian head coach Rank Turner wanted to boost his team’s chances in home conditions with the track, but the idea completely backfired on him and his team at the Eden Gardens. So, to counter spin better, he has pushed him into a new practice regime.
Sai Sudarshan bats with his front pad off
Indian batsmen Sai Sudarshan and Dhruv Jurel both took part in India’s optional practice sessions at the Eden Gardens on Tuesday and during those sessions, they were seen wearing just one pad to counter turning deliveries.
Left-handed batsman Sai Sudarshan had taken off his right pad, with the aim of ensuring more use of the bat than the front pad during long jump. This may also help him avoid his usual strategy of playing on the backfoot, as modern-day Indian batsmen are not considered to read spinners off their hands.
Batting without a front pad meant he had to be very cautious about his shin bone or any other open area, which could lead to a fracture. This is often considered a very old school model of training, which improves stopping balls off the bat. It also encourages batsmen to step out and reduce spin on deliveries.
Dhruv Jurel practices reverse sweep from the right pad
Apart from Sai Sudarshan, another batsman who was seen practicing in a similar manner was Dhruv Jurel. He also took off his right pad and practiced a reverse sweep on one of the central wickets.
To execute a reverse sweep, the right leg must take a long step forward, and so the exercise was designed to increase movement but also increase the risk of injury.
During these sessions, head coach Gautam Gambhir had his eyes fixed on these two batsmen. Sudarshan was specifically cited as the most likely batsman to replace him at number one if Shubman Gill misses the next game. 4.
Nitish Kumar Reddy reached Kolkata before the second test
With captain Shubman Gill’s participation unlikely for the upcoming Test, all-rounder Nitish Kumar Reddy was recalled to the squad, and he flew to Kolkata on Monday. However, Reddy was absent from the optional session on Tuesday.
Being a right-handed batsman, he definitely brings some versatility that left-handed batsmen Sai Sudarshan and Devdutt Padikkal do not have, as the Indian team already contains several left-handed batsmen.
In another surprise move in Kolkata, only six players took part in the optional practice session, including three players who were not part of the XI, and only Ravindra Jadeja was among the most senior cricketers, who batted for hours in the nets.
Also read: Steve Smith suffered serious injury before the first match of Ashes.
