India’s Sai Sudharsan and Dhruv Jurel faced spinners on Monday wearing just one pad to fight the turning deliveries, a strategy that carries some danger while adhering to batters’ peculiarities and habits during net sessions.
This nearly three-hour optional session at the Eden Gardens had a method to the madness, as is the case with most unconventional rituals. In order to ensure a large front-foot stride without any protection on that leg, left-hander Sudharsan decided to remove his right pad.
Sudharsan did not play in the Eden Test, and there is no guarantee that he will start in Guwahati. He had to be particularly careful to avoid strikes to the shin bone or any exposed area that could cause a fracture when batting against off-spinners and left-arm spinners without a front pad.
Coaches demand that batters utilize their bat more than their front pad to block pitches in this old training style. When wearing pads, batters frequently end themselves in front-foot leg-before positions because they rely on conditioned reflexes to bring the front pad across as the initial line of defence.
The batter is forced to rely on the bat when the front pad is removed from nets. This exercise is also motivated by Indian left-handers’ present propensity to go on the back foot since they find it difficult to read spinners from the hand and attempt to play with the turn. Batters are encouraged to smother the spin by stepping out of the crease.
In a similar vein, Jurel was observed working on the reverse sweep on one of the center strips without his right pad. The reverse sweep requires a large forward step with the right leg for a right-hander. Once more, the aim of this exercise is to minimize the chance of damage while ensuring proper movement.
During the optional session, coach Gautam Gambhir closely monitored Sudharsan, one of the candidates to replace Shubman Gill, who may have to miss the second Test because of a neck spasm. The young left-hander looked uneasy against the pacers, with Akash Deep beating his outside edge several times and even the net bowlers troubling him with their movement.
During multiple intervals, Gambhir and batting coach Sitanshu Kotak had lengthy conversations with him.
Only six players, including senior member Ravindra Jadeja, who batted the longest, showed up for the optional session, which was a little surprising.
All-rounder Nitish Reddy has been removed from the current India A series against South Africa A in Rajkot since Gill’s participation in the second Test seems extremely improbable, given the degree of stiffness on the back of his neck.
Gill will travel from Kolkata to BCCI COE in Bengaluru if he doesn’t go to Guwahati. Reddy’s third and last List A game is set for this Wednesday. However, the Andhra batting all-rounder did not participate in the day’s net session after arriving in Kolkata on Monday night.
It is learnt that Reddy would have struggled to play on Wednesday night in Rajkot and then catch a connecting flight to Guwahati the following day, a schedule that would have also forced him to miss the first practice session.
The Indian team management did not want that to happen. Reddy, a right-hander with a Test century under his belt, may once more be considered for a spot in the Guwahati playing eleven.
