New Zealand will have both their feet in the semi-finals of this World Cup only after Saturday’s Pakistan-England game at Eden Gardens in Calcutta. But as far as Team India are concerned, they seem to be going ahead with preparations assuming the Black Caps as their opponents in the first semi-final in Mumbai on November 15.
This World Cup has been an exception so far, but tackling left-arm pacers has been one problematic area for the Indian batsmen.
Being at a discomfort against Trent Boult, especially in the 2019 Cup semi-final in Manchester followed by the 2021 T20 World Cup group clash in Dubai, is something the stalwarts of India’s batting line-up will not have forgotten.
So, during Friday’s training session under lights at the Chinnaswamy Stadium ahead of their last league clash with the Netherlands on Sunday, captain Rohit Sharma, his opening partner Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, Shreyas Iyer and Ravindra Jadeja took throwdowns at nets from the Sri Lankan left-handed throwdown-specialist Nuwan Seneviratne, who has been a part of the Team India support staff for more than half a decade.
Usually, batsmen take throwdowns at the start of their nets session. On Friday though, the regular batters as well as spinner all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja continued taking throwdowns from Seneviratne right through the practice session that lasted almost three hours apart from facing the pace trio of Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami and Mohammed Siraj.
Jasprit Bumrah. PTI photo
The throwdown specialist tested skipper Rohit by pitching the ball up on the middle-and-off stump, which the latter — in magnificent form at present — negotiated quite well. And of course, Rohit belted a few of those into the stands as well.
Kohli, too, faced a similar thing although one ball that bounced awkwardly seemed to catch him off guard before he removed his bottom hand from the bat. Kohli, however, continued to bat for quite some time thereafter and didn’t look to be in any kind of discomfort either.
Going back to Boult, he wasn’t as threatening when India and New Zealand met in Dharamsala during the league phase, conceding 60 off his 10 overs with just the wicket of Iyer. But in the semi-finals, Boult and his teammates are a completely different beast, and it will be an all-new ballgame if the two sides meet again at the Wankhede.
The Wankhede pitch, in this World Cup, has certainly been batsmen-friendly, but the quicks too have had their share of purchase from it. India’s pace attack knows that well enough.
All said and done, with eight convincing wins on the trot, India are indeed in a very good frame of mind and appear quite carefree, something that bodes well for the unit going into the semi-finals. Early during the practice session, Bumrah bowling spin and trying to imitate Anil Kumble’s action, and Ravichandran Ashwin trying to bowl like Harbhajan Singh seemed to underline that.
The New Zealanders, on the other hand, enjoyed a rest day after hammering Sri Lanka on Thursday. Rachin Ravindra, one of their star performers, spent some time with his grandparents, who stay in the city.