India bowling coach Morne Morkel admitted his side was "surprised" by how quickly the Eden Gardens surface "deteriorated" after a dramatic second day in which 15 wickets fell and the opening Test swung sharply in India's favour.
Abhishek Sharma's flamboyance will meet its match in Shaheen Shah Afridi's precision in what promises to be an "edge of the seat" battle in the Asia Cup final on Sunday.
And ahead of the 4th Test, some members of the Indian team went all out at a gym training session.
Runs have dried up for Suryakumar, with his last T20I fifty coming back in October 2024. With the World Cup less than two months away, the pressure has begun to mount.
India suffered a major pre-match blow in the Asia Cup final against Pakistan as star all-rounder Hardik Pandya was ruled out of the title-deciding clash in Dubai due to a niggle.
The pitch, left unwatered for nearly a week, appeared dry and brown with faint traces of grass, conditions that could bring reverse swing and variable bounce into play later in the match.
Norne Morkel, who has now retired from the international cricket, has said that he is keen to play in the Big Bash and Sheffield Shield having relocated to Sydney with his family.
Morne Morkel resigns as Pakistan's bowling coach
The Proteas arrive high on confidence, having fought out a hard-earned 1-1 draw in Pakistan last month under challenging conditions.
India's batting coach Sitanshu Kotak on Friday acknowledged that Sanju Samson has been going through a lean phase without doubting the quality of the struggling batter, and reiterated the team management's support for him.
Little-known ambidextrous Bengal spinner Kaushik Maity seamlessly doubled up for both roles during the optional practice session.
The others to arrive after a delayed flight were K L Rahul, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Arshdeep Singh, Harshit Rana and Nitish Kumar Reddy along with some members of the support staff.
'We knew it won't be easy to hit how much you may connect. Plan was to bowl smartly and when a batter is set, force him to hit on the bigger sides than small sides.'
The second and final Test starts in Guwahati from Saturday with India trailing 0-1 after the defeat on a challenging Eden Gardens pitch in Kolkata.
India's bowling coach Morne Morkel expects the batting unit to lift its performance under pressure in the Asia Cup final against Pakistan
'Gautam Gambhir and Morne Morkel will need to provide Rohit with more inputs like whether to bowl bouncers or bowl round the wicket or whether we are allowing the game to drift.'
This happened following India's practice session that saw both India's senior batters hit the nets at the Optus Stadium.
'Tomorrow we can just focus on doing a good warm-up, get the boys ready to hopefully get the ball in the right area and create a little bit of excitement again.'
Indian Test skipper Shubman Gill spoke on the team dinner hosted by head coach Gautam Gambhir on Thursday
Earlier, warm-up routines had players darting through shuttle runs and high knees before bats were unsheathed.
India's pace great Zaheer Khan is reportedly set to part ways with Lucknow Super Giants after just one season as their mentor.
The 'Impact Player' in IPL might have restricted Chennai Super Kings' Shivam Dube's role but 'India's Shivam Dube' aspires to be a full-fledged all-rounder backed by head coach Gautam Gambhir and helped by bowling coach Morne Morkel.
'Pretty amazing. The whole tournament, we remained unbeaten, it feels pretty amazing to be in this position.'
Prasidh Krishna has the ability to bowl "magic balls" and the pacer needs to be given an extended run to serve India for a long time, said bowling coach Morne Morkel in London on Sunday.
The Lucknow Super Giants welcome their bowling and fielding coaches while Gujarat Titans welcome their coach.
With the much-anticipated Group A clash against arch-rivals Pakistan looming, India is sparing no effort in their training sessions, honing skills and strategising tactics.
Countering Bumrah before spinners come into play will be key for SA: Graeme Smith
Team India wasted no time in getting their preparations underway as they kicked off their first training session at Lord's a few hours after their arrival in London on Saturday.
The batters' constant failure in making runs in the first innings is costing the team dear, admitted bowling coach Morne Morkel even as India are in danger of losing the first Test series at home since 2012-13.
Morkel said Mayank's recent start in bowling shows promising progress, with efforts now directed towards hitting the 150 kmph mark consistently.
Harshit Rana has been included in the India Test squad as a cover and travelled with the rest of the team via train to reach Leeds
The Oval will host the fifth and final Test between India and England from Thursday, and the Indian team has hit the ground running two days after staging a remarkable comeback to draw the fourth match in Manchester.
'Jassi is a guy that immediately put his hand up and he wanted that leadership role.'
'Yeah, 100 per cent. That's a good question, and I think that's something we'll obviously reflect on after the tour, the things we could have done better.'
Abhishek Sharma's brutal yet beautiful stroke-play was the highlight of India's optional net session on Tuesday
Shubman Gill's form in the series is a concern for India as he has now gone six games without a half-century.
Defending champions India had a full-fledged practice session at the ICC Academy in Dubai on Friday as they put the finishing touches to their Asia Cup preparations.
Siraj took a six wicket haul in the first innings and got rid of Zak Crawley in the final hour on day five.
India head coach Gautam Gambhir on Friday returned to the country after mother Seema Gambhir had to be hospitalized due to health emergency.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances