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GUWAHATI: As India embarked on final preparation for their ODI World Cup journey with a three-hour long optional practice session far from the madding crowd at the Amingaon Cricket Ground on Friday, the latest entrant into the final 15-member squad, Ravichandran Ashwin, was the busiest among all.
The off-spinner was in the first batch of players to arrive in the city well before officially replacing left-arm spinner Axar Patel late on the deadline day for making any changes in the squad.
And ahead of their first warm-up game against England at Barsapara Cricket Stadium on Saturday, Ashwin — along with Shardul Thakur, Shubman Gill and Ishan Kishan — practised at the picturesque Amingaon ground, which is about 30 km from the main city.
The England team simultaneously practiced at the ground as they had to reschedule their morning practice session following a delayed arrival at the city, well past midnight.
With most of the teammates giving the practice a miss, Gill and Kishan had a light training session under a scorching sun but not Ashwin. Thakur, too, had a good batting session.
The 37-year-old offie, with his batting stats slightly on the weaker side compared to Axar who failed to recover on time from an injury, started batting at the nets and continued to face all types of net bowlers including throwdown specialist Raghu Raghavendra for about 45 minutes. Post the net session, Ashwin was seen having a long chat with head coach Rahul Dravid and batting coach Vikram Rathour.
While Rohit will be happy to get a smart and tactically sound Ashwin at his disposal as far as bowling is concerned, the off-spinning allrounder’s batting records are a bit inferior to that of Axar. Not in the white-ball scheme of things since 2017, Ashwin has played only four ODIs in the last six years and two of those were against Australia last week. So far he has scored only one fifty in 115 ODIs at a strike rate less than 90, while Axar has two fifties in 54 ODIs at a strike rate of over 100.
With other spinner allrounder Ravindra Jadeja not among runs of late, India’s lower order batting will be tested in the marquee event. As most top order batters got enough practice in the recently concluded Australia ODI series, apart from Ashwin, Shardul Thakur was the only player to bat at the nets on Friday. Others were content with warmup and light training in a humid condition.
Post his long batting session, Ashwin rolled his arms at the nets under the watchful eyes of bowling coach Paras Mhambrey for more than half an hour while the others waited at the makeshift shades on the sidelines before leaving the ground. It looks like the senior pro is leaving no stone unturned to fit into the scheme of things and be battle ready for the road ahead in a long tournament.
Initially England may have got a county-like feel at the ground surrounded by hills and a lake on the west. But the sweltering heat gave them a reality check. To acclimatise with the Indian conditions, the Englishmen had a full practice with Joe Root, Sam Curran, Chris Woakes batting longtime among others while Moeen Ali and Adil Rashid started bowling at the nets in tandem.
With tweakers expected to play bigger roles in Indian conditions, England mostly engaged spinning net bowlers during the practice session.
For India, Saturday’s game will be important to set the combinations right before they fly to Thiruvananthapuram to play the Netherlands, which is expected to be less of a test for the Indians.
The off-spinner was in the first batch of players to arrive in the city well before officially replacing left-arm spinner Axar Patel late on the deadline day for making any changes in the squad.
And ahead of their first warm-up game against England at Barsapara Cricket Stadium on Saturday, Ashwin — along with Shardul Thakur, Shubman Gill and Ishan Kishan — practised at the picturesque Amingaon ground, which is about 30 km from the main city.
The England team simultaneously practiced at the ground as they had to reschedule their morning practice session following a delayed arrival at the city, well past midnight.
With most of the teammates giving the practice a miss, Gill and Kishan had a light training session under a scorching sun but not Ashwin. Thakur, too, had a good batting session.
The 37-year-old offie, with his batting stats slightly on the weaker side compared to Axar who failed to recover on time from an injury, started batting at the nets and continued to face all types of net bowlers including throwdown specialist Raghu Raghavendra for about 45 minutes. Post the net session, Ashwin was seen having a long chat with head coach Rahul Dravid and batting coach Vikram Rathour.
While Rohit will be happy to get a smart and tactically sound Ashwin at his disposal as far as bowling is concerned, the off-spinning allrounder’s batting records are a bit inferior to that of Axar. Not in the white-ball scheme of things since 2017, Ashwin has played only four ODIs in the last six years and two of those were against Australia last week. So far he has scored only one fifty in 115 ODIs at a strike rate less than 90, while Axar has two fifties in 54 ODIs at a strike rate of over 100.
With other spinner allrounder Ravindra Jadeja not among runs of late, India’s lower order batting will be tested in the marquee event. As most top order batters got enough practice in the recently concluded Australia ODI series, apart from Ashwin, Shardul Thakur was the only player to bat at the nets on Friday. Others were content with warmup and light training in a humid condition.
Post his long batting session, Ashwin rolled his arms at the nets under the watchful eyes of bowling coach Paras Mhambrey for more than half an hour while the others waited at the makeshift shades on the sidelines before leaving the ground. It looks like the senior pro is leaving no stone unturned to fit into the scheme of things and be battle ready for the road ahead in a long tournament.
Initially England may have got a county-like feel at the ground surrounded by hills and a lake on the west. But the sweltering heat gave them a reality check. To acclimatise with the Indian conditions, the Englishmen had a full practice with Joe Root, Sam Curran, Chris Woakes batting longtime among others while Moeen Ali and Adil Rashid started bowling at the nets in tandem.
With tweakers expected to play bigger roles in Indian conditions, England mostly engaged spinning net bowlers during the practice session.
For India, Saturday’s game will be important to set the combinations right before they fly to Thiruvananthapuram to play the Netherlands, which is expected to be less of a test for the Indians.
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