MELBOURNE: Net sessions sometimes work as a giant book of revelation. The sessions can reveal what’s been discussed inside the dressing room. What is on a batter’s mind; or what line a bowler would be looking at or what length he would prefer? On Saturday in Melbourne, India’s net session had a sprinkling of all the above.
The India batters were trying to plug a hole that led to their demise more often than not. They were focused on leaving the ball alone outside off stump.
A cold, breezy Saturday welcomed the Indian cricket team to Melbourne. The conditions did not deter Rohit Sharma and Co from sweating it out during the intense training session in the first half of the day here. Having arrived in the city after the draw in Brisbane, India had a rest day before turning up at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
In what was a full-strength session, the team’s concentration was largely on leaving the ball as much as possible while trying to cover the off-stump, especially for the top order batters. From Virat Kohli to Rohit Sharma to Shubman Gill, India’s main batters have been struggling for form and the team needs them to perform.
Kohli was among the first to hit the nets and his focus was predominantly on leaving the balls on the rise while focusing only on deliveries that he has to. The former India captain preferred to leave the balls outside off and hit those within his reach.
Sharma, meanwhile, was focusing on getting in the line and defending pacers while using his feet against the spinners. Speaking of which, with R Ashwin retired, Washington Sundar and Ravindra Jadeja bowled long spells, with head coach Gautam Gambhir watching them closely. Sharma was constantly talking to Washington almost after every delivery giving him feedback on how the ball was coming on.
