In an eventful and bizarre training session, India collected more casualties than positives ahead of Sunday’s ODI World Cup clash against New Zealand at the HPCA Stadium in Dharamsala.
While the first-choice batters had light net sessions, left-hand batter Ishan Kishan and star-striker Suryakumar Yadav suffered blows in training.
With a near full-strength squad coming in on the eve of the game, India’s batters straightaway proceeded to hit the nets after warming up. While Hardik Pandya’s injury has thrown a spanner in the works across multiple departments, India’s objective to look at its backup batter at number six was cut short early with Kishan suffering a “honeybee” sting midway through his stint.
Kishan, the first to enter the nets along with Virat Kohli, took on the net bowlers and throwdown specialists before moving to take on seamer Mohammed Siraj. He abruptly flung his bat onto the turf and rushed out of the nets to the bench. After being attended by the physios, Kishan stood up clutching his nape in pain and immediately left the facility.
India’s Ishan Kishan receives medical attention after sustaining a bee sting. | Photo Credit: K.R Deepak / The Hindu
Meanwhile, India’s lead top-order batters Kohli, Shubman Gill and Shreyas Iyer, and all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja had brief but crisp sessions. Fresh from his hundred against Bangladesh in Pune, Kohli went slam-bang from ball one against Siraj and off-spinner R Ashwin. Kohli endured a hit on his right thigh but proceeded to play on almost instantly before wrapping up a breezy session.
India captain Rohit Sharma also had a light throwdown session before calling it a night. Joining him in the second batch was Suryakumar, who suffered a hit on his right wrist barely five minutes after walking in. After being attended by the support staff, Suryakumar exited the nets clutching his wrist. Visibly distraught, Suryakumar was soon taped up and trudged back to the dressing room with Siraj.
Wicketkeeper KL Rahul and lead bowlers Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammad Shami gave the session a miss.
Shardul, Ashwin have a long hit
With Hardik’s injury raising his stocks as the only other seam-bowling all-rounder in the squad, Shardul Thakur was in the spotlight with the bat.
The Mumbaikar took to his task with force, slamming the net bowlers with power and finesse, including eye-catching off and straight drives. Shardul had left and right-arm throwdown experts in attack besides a left-arm spinner towards the end of a nearly twenty-minute session, dealing all of them with aplomb.
In one of the only positives from an otherwise woeful hour, Ashwin improvised with a range of crafty scoops and ramps from outside the off-stump against throwdown specialist Raghu before drawing the curtains on, overlooked by head coach Rahul Dravid.
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