Ahead of their T20 World Cup match against the Netherlands, the Indian cricket team is honing their skills against spin bowling, with Abhishek Sharma leading the charge in a focused net session.
Key Points
- Abhishek Sharma led India's net session, focusing on hitting against spin in preparation for the Netherlands.
- Indian batsmen, including Tilak Varma and Rinku Singh, dedicated extra time to facing spinners during practice.
- The Indian batters are addressing their vulnerability against spin, having struggled in previous matches against Pakistan and Namibia.
Spin was the flavour of India's net session on Tuesday, on eve of their T20 World Cup game against the Netherlands with Abhishek Sharma's towering hits headlining the stint.
Yet to score a run in the tournament, Abhishek batted for more than an hour in main the square of the sprawling stadium at the Narendra Modi Stadium, in Ahmedabad.
For someone who likes to play in front of the wicket on either side, Abhishek stuck to his strength and targeted the cow corner and deep cover region against the off-spin of a net bowler and Varun Chakaravarthy.
When the pacers were in operation, the southpaw employed the pull and the pick up shot behind the wicket. Against all three of them, it was raining sixes.
Just when one thought he was done, Abhishek returned to bat in tandem with skipper Suryakumar Yadav. That was when Kuldeep Yadav came to roll his arm over and Abhishek was quick to dispatch anything full towards his preferred extra cover region.
In adjacent nets, the likes of Tilak Varma and Rinku Singh also spent more time against the slower bowlers.
Only half of the squad members were at the ground and they included Abhishek, Chakaravarthy, Suryakumar, Tilak, Kuldeep, Washington Sundar and Arshdeep Singh.
Rinku Rolls His Arm Over
After a lengthy session with the bat, Rinku returned to bowl some off-spin with a round arm action, reminiscent of Gerhard Erasmus in the game against Namibia. The Namibia captain had troubled the Indian batters with his unconventional action and delivery from way behind the stumps in Delhi last week.
Even in the Pakistan game, Indian batters' performance against the likes of Usman Tariq and Saim Ayub left a lot to be desired. It was a tough wicket in Colombo but Ishan Kishan's special effort took the game away from Pakistan.
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