The highlight of India’s optional net session on Tuesday was Abhishek Sharma’s brutal yet beautiful strokeplay, while strength and conditioning coach Adrian Le Roux closely monitored left-arm pacer Arshdeep Singh as he went through fitness exercises.
Senior players Jasprit Bumrah, Kuldeep Yadav, Sanju Samson, and bowler Harshit Rana decided to take a break because it was an optional training day at the ICC Academy.
All eyes, however, were on Abhishek. The young left-hander wasn’t brute-forcing his shots; instead, he leaned on his razor-sharp hand-eye coordination to launch deliveries high into the night sky, several disappearing well beyond the practice area.
It was less a net session and more a “range-hitting” showcase — a term cricket has happily borrowed from golf. He clobbered at least 25 to 30 sixes during an hour-long batting session, making it quite tough for onlookers to look away.
Vice-captain Shubman Gill also appeared to be in form as he used his signature elegance to caress quick bowlers inside-out over extra cover. But in an otherwise flawless session, a local net bowler’s thunderbolt managed to evade his defenses and uproot the off-stump.
Despite being the first to enter the nets, Arshdeep decided to put more of an emphasis on his fitness than his bowling. Under Le Roux’s guidance, he performed a series of shuttle and repeat sprint drills with cones positioned at 10, 20, and 40 meters. This exercise was once known as “Repeat Sprints” in the 1990s but is now more frequently called the “Bronco Test.”
With bowling coach Morne Morkel walking by him for company, Arshdeep jogged through the majority of the drills at a leisurely speed, in contrast to the high-intensity bursts often expected in similar exercises. Arshdeep was reportedly the best fast bowler in the Bronco test during his stint at the BCCI CoE in Bengaluru.
With Samson choosing to rest after a subdued outing on Monday, wicketkeeper Jitesh Sharma carried on with his intense practice. Guided by fielding coach T. Dilip, he honed his reflexes through “no-look” catching drills — a routine where the keeper holds his hands parallel to the ground as the coach drops the ball from close range.
The challenge is to snap up the ball just inches before it hits the turf, relying solely on instinct and reaction time rather than its flight.
