CHENNAI: The Indian team is keen on a winning note and had a three-hour strenuous practice session at the MAC 'B' grounds at Chepauk here on Thursday.
The weather in Chennai has been a bit tricky for the last couple of weeks. It is very hot during the day and rains on most days at night. Keeping this in mind, Rahul Dravid, the chief coach of the national side, put his wards through the paces. The conditions are such that the team that wins the toss would mostly opt to bat first in order to put an imposing total on the board.
KL Rahul and skipper Rohit Sharma had a fruitful stint at the nets. India bowling coach Paras Mhambrey saw to that the duo excelled in the footwork and also stroke play by assigning the right bowlers. Virat Kohli had a long stint at the nets. He was tested by some hard length deliveries from Mohammed Shami and Hardik Pandya. Meanwhile, Shreyas Iyer batted thrice, on three different occasions, working on various aspects of his batting, especially facing the short-pitched deliveries. In between he had a long session with Dravid where the coach was hitting tennis balls with a raquet above Iyer's shoulders to counter the bouncers.
About a week or so back the square that holds the eight odd turfs at the MA Chidambaram stadium had a lush green look with the outfield too with good covering of grass and smooth as usual. The recent rains certainly helped the TNCA markers in maintaining the ground. But on Thursday the deck that would most probably be used for the ODI was brown, flat and dry bereft of any grass. The pitch should also aid the spinners as the match progresses.
Focus on Ashwin
The ace off-spinner R Ashwin had a fruitful batting stint at the nets. He used a couple of bats with different weights so as to test and use them in the slog overs when he gets an opportunity to bat. He bowled for a while, and had a relatively longer spell with different batters. Since this is his last ODI World Cup, Ashwin wants to be as useful as possible for the team and prepared keeping this in mind, having a chat with Dravid often. Though the debate of the second spinner to play with Ravindra Jadeja is still on, Ashwin should get the nod as he has a terrific record at Chepauk.
