Nitish Kumar Reddy made a promise to himself post the Australia tour that he would improve his bowling.
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 Proteas arrive high on confidence, having fought out a hard-earned 1-1 draw in Pakistan last month under challenging conditions.
And ahead of the 4th Test, some members of the Indian team went all out at a gym training session.
Little-known ambidextrous Bengal spinner Kaushik Maity seamlessly doubled up for both roles during the optional practice session.
Morne Morkel, India's bowling coach, is delighted to have Mohammed Shami back in the squad and hinted at a possible return for the veteran pacer in the fifth T20 International against England in Mumbai on Sunday.
'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 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.
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.
Morne Morkel isn't here to shake things up. He sees the Indian cricket system as a well-oiled machine, and his goal is to help it run even smoother.
This happened following India's practice session that saw both India's senior batters hit the nets at the Optus Stadium.
India's bowling coach Morne Morkel expects the batting unit to lift its performance under pressure in the Asia Cup final against Pakistan
'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
Morne Morkel resigns as Pakistan's bowling coach
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.
Earlier, warm-up routines had players darting through shuttle runs and high knees before bats were unsheathed.
'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.'
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.
Countering Bumrah before spinners come into play will be key for SA: Graeme Smith
'Pretty amazing. The whole tournament, we remained unbeaten, it feels pretty amazing to be in this position.'
India's pace great Zaheer Khan is reportedly set to part ways with Lucknow Super Giants after just one season as their mentor.
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.
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.
Shubman Gill's form in the series is a concern for India as he has now gone six games without a half-century.
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.
Abhishek Sharma's brutal yet beautiful stroke-play was the highlight of India's optional net session on Tuesday
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.
'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.'
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.
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
Seldom has an India vs Pakistan clash played with such a volatile backdrop, where cricket seems inseparably knotted with off-field tension, provocative gestures, and fines slapped on both camps.
Siraj took a six wicket haul in the first innings and got rid of Zak Crawley in the final hour on day five.
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.
The Lucknow Super Giants welcome their bowling and fielding coaches while Gujarat Titans welcome their coach.
India assistant coach Ryan ten Doeschate said training with the two-coloured balls helps in eliminating white ball tendencies from the red ball game.
India head coach Gautam Gambhir on Friday returned to the country after mother Seema Gambhir had to be hospitalized due to health emergency.
'Jassi is a guy that immediately put his hand up and he wanted that leadership role.'
Morkel said Mayank's recent start in bowling shows promising progress, with efforts now directed towards hitting the 150 kmph mark consistently.
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