Soon after gently rolling his arm over in the field of play, Akash Deep cut a forlorn figure as uncapped Anshul Kamboj and Prasidh Krishna bowled full tilt at India's first outdoor training session ahead of the fourth Test.
The decision to leave out paceman Morne Morkel in the IPL Qualifier II raised a lot of eyebrows but Delhi Daredevils head coach Eric Simmons defended the strategy, saying it was aimed at finding the 'right balance' in the side.
Kolkata Knight Riders might have come up trumps in a high-scoring IPL opener against Mumbai Indians, but skipper Gautam Gambhir was all praise for his bowling unit that was ably led by South African speedster Morne Morkel.
'He has been working hard on his bowling. This was a perfect game for him.'
There is Ravindra Jadeja, whose superior batting becomes a huge factor in SENA countries but against England's 'Bazballers', Kuldeep Yadav's versatility could complement pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah better if India harbour any hopes of picking 20 wickets.
'He leads a lot of actions. And in this series so far, he's done it with the ball at times that we've needed somebody to put his hand up and create something.'
India's pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah is up and running in Beckenham, putting in the hard yards before the upcoming five high-stakes Tests against England, slated to kick off on June 20 at Headingley.
Images from Day 3 of the first Test between South Africa and Australia in Durban on Saturday.
South Africa took control of the first Test against West Indies on Saturday after pacemen Dale Steyn, who reached 200 Test wickets, and Morne Morkel had skittled the hosts for 102 on the third day. South Africa, with a first innings lead of 250, declined to enforce the follow-on and extended their lead by reaching 155 for two at the close at the Queens Park Oval in Trinidad.
Virat Kohli spent about 45 minutes in the nets and pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah bowled full tilt as the Indian cricket team on Friday began its preparations
The pacer took 4-60 as India were bowled out for 307 runs in their first innings, conceding a 28-run lead. The hosts finished at 90/2, leading overall by 118.
De Villiers also recollected how Rohit took on fierce South African pacers Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel during a Durban Test.
This brings us to the question of combination and perhaps Arshdeep could miss out on more games going into the T20 World Cup -- a tournament that will be held in the sub-continent -- India and Sri Lanka.
Nayar comes with a high reputation as a sharp cricket mind and a lifestyle/motivational coach who have worked with the likes of Dinesh Karthik and Rinku Singh.
Mohammed Shami's much-awaited return to top-flight cricket did not receive too many supporting signals during the seasoned pacer's nearly hour-long stint of varying intensity at the India nets here on Friday. Despite working hard on finding his bowling rhythm, Shami never really hit his flowing peak. While he was expected to feature in the playing 11 during India's first T20I against England at Kolkata on Wednesday, the management decided to delay his comeback. Shami's rhythm and sharpness gradually hit a higher gear but the whole picture was one of rustiness, raising questions about his current form and the decision to select him for the series against England and the Champions Trophy.
Since he took over, head coach Gautam Gambhir has stressed on multi-skilled players across formats, especially those who can add batting depth.
IMAGES from Day 4 of the fourth Test between South Africa and Australia in Johannesburg on Monday
South Africa recalled hard-hitting all-rounder Albie Morkel on Monday in their squad for the World Twenty20 in Bangladesh starting next month.
I expected seam and swing in England but on tracks like these only discipline helps: Akash Deep
Hyderabad U-19 pacer Nishanth Saranu, who stands at six feet nine inches, attracted a lot of attention in Pakistan's opening net session ahead of the World Cup in Hyderabad on Thursday.
Pakistan's bowling coach Morne Morkel hoped that spinners would lift their game against Sri Lanka, a virtual semi-final, on Thursday.
India pacer Harshit Rana credited seasoned speedster Jasprit Bumrah for shaping his consistency and adaptability at the highest level.
Kolkata Knight Riders skipper Gautam Gambhir credited his bowlers .
With India conceding more than 600 runs for the first time since 2014, the case for including a wicket-taking spinner like Kuldeep Yadav is stronger than ever for the must-win fifth and final Test against England.
Zaheer Khan is set to leave Mumbai Indians to take up the role of mentor at Lucknow Super Giants in IPL 2025.
The former South African quick explained the pre-set plan against Head, though it eventually fell flat on its back.
Injured South Africa pacer Dale Steyn bowled for a short while in the nets, raising hopes of him being included in the playing XI in the third Test against India in Nagpur, but his fast bowling partner Morne Morkel said the team is keeping its fingers crossed.
Ravindra Jadeja became the seventh Indian bowler to reach the coveted mark during the fourth day of the second Test against Bangladesh in Kanpur.
Sitanshu Kotak, 52, is a longtime staff of the National Cricket Academy as its batting coach
A look back at a few memorable showdowns in the last decade and half that had the quintessential crests and troughs of Test cricket.
As he closes the most revered chapter of his career, here are some of his best Test knocks:
Zaheer Khan returns to the IPL fold after two years, having been associated with five-time champions Mumbai Indians from 2018-2022.
'Time has come to scrutinise the role of India's batting coach.'
'We were debutants, obviously we will have nervousness and pressure. He gave that license to us. Any youngster would like to get it from the captain.'
Mohammed Shami's return to competitive cricket has been further pushed back after the veteran pacer was not picked in the Bengal Ranji Trophy squad.
Cheteshwar Pujara was the cornerstone of the Indian batting line-up in Tests, featuring in 103 matches in which he scored 7,195 runs at an average of 43.60, with 19 centuries.
Former South Africa pacer Morne Morkel feels uncapped India left-arm pacer Mohsin Khan is a gem of a bowler.
The likes of Yashaswi Jaiswal, Dhruv Jurel, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Sarfaraz Khan, Nitish Reddy, Harshit Rana, Akash Deep and Prasidh Krishna are on their maiden Test tour of Australia.
The South African pacer however renders himself doubtful for 4th ODI
Out of favour South African all-rounder Albie Morkel says India's hammering of the Proteas at the MCG demonstrated that the defending champions are capable of blowing any team away in the World Cup and big-ticket ICC events bring out the best in them.
