It was a dark and gloomy morning at the Green Park here, as the Indian team had an optional training session on the eve of its second Test against Bangladesh.
By the time the training session got over, heavy rain lashed the city, forcing the groundsmen to cover the entire ground. With rain in the forecast for the next couple of days, there are concerns over how the Green Park wicket, which traditionally helps the spinners, will play out.
India assistant coach Abhishek Nayar, too, hopes that things get ‘bright and sunny’ by the time the action begins. “To be honest, I don’t know which surface we are going to play on yet. But both the pitches look pretty good. Kanpur is often known to have good pitches. I am not sure about the bounce yet,” Nayar said on Thursday.
“With the conditions and the forecast, it is going to be interesting as to how the conditions are when we turn up in the morning. A lot will depend on that because as you know in Test cricket, conditions can be a huge factor in how the pitch plays.
“So, it is too early for us to judge and decide or have any sort of thought process on the pitch or the conditions,” Nayar said, adding with a smile: ”But we are hoping we come in tomorrow to a sunny day and not an overcast Kanpur.”
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With a bit of fence-sitting, the assistant coach also kept the mystery alive of whether local lad Kuldeep Yadav will be part of the playing eleven in case India decides to go ahead with three spinners.
He, however, wasn’t hesitant while talking about the future leaders of Indian cricket. In the ongoing series, India does not have a designated vice-captain, but for Nayar, that’s not an area of concern.
“You have got a lot of captains, ideal captains in this team. So, you talk about a Shubman Gill, Rishabh Pant, hopefully a Yashasvi Jaiswal, going forward. But there are a lot of players who’ve led their franchises.
“So, I wouldn’t look at them as youngsters anymore. Yes, they may be youngsters in terms of age and maybe, in terms of the amount of cricket they’ve played. But I think overall - mentally and the way their development as a cricketer has been - they have the leadership qualities that are required,” Nayar said.
“You don’t need to have a designated vice-captain. But I think overall, just the thought process of these youngsters is of a senior player, and with the likes of Virat, Rohit in the dressing room, it just speeds up that process wherein you’re learning a lot faster,” the assistant coach said.
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With a large pool of talent, there have been times when a young player - be it Sarfaraz Khan or Dhruv Jurel - had to warm the bench despite faring well in the format early on.
While it’s a challenge for the management to keep them motivated, Nayar said, “The last Test match was 7-8 months ago and there was a lot of difference between that Test match and this one. The communication is very clear, what are your expectations from the players and what do you want them to work on.
“Every player is motivated and to be a part of an Indian team is a big thing in a lot of ways. A young player understands that there will be times when he will have to sit out for someone else. There will be times when he will have to make way for a senior player,” Nayar added.
By his admission, in those times, it is very important that the support staff helps out the player by trying to enhance their skills. ”If the players are even better, when they come back to the team and get a chance, they should be ready to perform,” he stated.
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