NEW DELHI: With the ODI series against Sri Lanka at stake, the Indian cricket team hit the nets in all readiness on Tuesday ahead of the third and final ODI at Colombo on Wednesday.
The first ODI had ended in a tie last Friday and Sri Lanka won the second ODI by 32 runs on Sunday.
Under new head coach Gautam Gambhir, India would be looking to avoid their first series loss to Sri Lanka in 27 years.
The Indian cricket board (BCCI) shared a video on their official X handle that showed the Rohit Sharma-led team hitting the nets under the watchful eyes of interim bowling coach Sairaj Bahutule, assistant coaches Ryan ten Doeschate and Abhishek Nayar.
Sairaj Bahutule says in the video, “Well I think the batters and overall as a unit, the bowlers as well, certain areas which we need to be working on, has been addressed and I think that’s what they were trying to implement, certain pattern of bowling which has been done to our batters, we’re trying to see how we can match that and find a solution.”
According to reports, Rohit Sharma turned up for practice on Tuesday but didn’t bat. Rishabh Pant did hit the ball around a bit against the spinners in the nets. Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Shubman Gill and KL Rahul had fairly long batting sessions. Neither Mohammed Siraj nor Arshdeep Singh bowled.
Ryan ten Doeschate adds, “We’re trying to be very specific and learn from the mistakes in the first couple of games since the conditions have been very tough, guys have come up with their own plans and how they want to go about it. It’s more of a mental point of view, they’re all fantastic players of spin, that’s not likely to be an issue. We’re trying to just form an environment where the guys feel positive where they can really express themselves and go out to show how good they are. I think it’s admirable how the guys one-up with themselves under pressure. They feel that we’ll at least share the series with Sri Lanka. And the preparation has been made around that we can be our best.”
With the second match ending in a loss, India now has the choice of fielding their strongest XI or experimenting ahead of the next major ICC tournament, which takes place in just six months.
Abhishek Nayar concludes, “I think as Indians we are emotional people and normally when sometimes you don’t get results our way, there is a lot of passion and integrity at stake for every individual so every cricketer in that dressing room knows what’s at stake and a lot of time that sort of brings the best out of the team and it bring out that fighting spirit that you want to often see in our team, then you obviously try to implement that in the centre with all the strategies that you come with, all the discussions that we have in the dressing room, sometimes, being pushed against the wall brings the best out of us.”
The first ODI had ended in a tie last Friday and Sri Lanka won the second ODI by 32 runs on Sunday.
Under new head coach Gautam Gambhir, India would be looking to avoid their first series loss to Sri Lanka in 27 years.
The Indian cricket board (BCCI) shared a video on their official X handle that showed the Rohit Sharma-led team hitting the nets under the watchful eyes of interim bowling coach Sairaj Bahutule, assistant coaches Ryan ten Doeschate and Abhishek Nayar.
Sairaj Bahutule says in the video, “Well I think the batters and overall as a unit, the bowlers as well, certain areas which we need to be working on, has been addressed and I think that’s what they were trying to implement, certain pattern of bowling which has been done to our batters, we’re trying to see how we can match that and find a solution.”
According to reports, Rohit Sharma turned up for practice on Tuesday but didn’t bat. Rishabh Pant did hit the ball around a bit against the spinners in the nets. Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Shubman Gill and KL Rahul had fairly long batting sessions. Neither Mohammed Siraj nor Arshdeep Singh bowled.
Ryan ten Doeschate adds, “We’re trying to be very specific and learn from the mistakes in the first couple of games since the conditions have been very tough, guys have come up with their own plans and how they want to go about it. It’s more of a mental point of view, they’re all fantastic players of spin, that’s not likely to be an issue. We’re trying to just form an environment where the guys feel positive where they can really express themselves and go out to show how good they are. I think it’s admirable how the guys one-up with themselves under pressure. They feel that we’ll at least share the series with Sri Lanka. And the preparation has been made around that we can be our best.”
With the second match ending in a loss, India now has the choice of fielding their strongest XI or experimenting ahead of the next major ICC tournament, which takes place in just six months.
Abhishek Nayar concludes, “I think as Indians we are emotional people and normally when sometimes you don’t get results our way, there is a lot of passion and integrity at stake for every individual so every cricketer in that dressing room knows what’s at stake and a lot of time that sort of brings the best out of the team and it bring out that fighting spirit that you want to often see in our team, then you obviously try to implement that in the centre with all the strategies that you come with, all the discussions that we have in the dressing room, sometimes, being pushed against the wall brings the best out of us.”
A loss would come as a shock to the recently recruited Gautam Gambhir-led coaching staff, who took over a team that had played some of the best ODI cricket in India less than a year ago. Despite their early success, they wouldn’t want to come to a conclusion on a note where they had more questions than answers at the end of their two-week tour to Sri Lanka.