Jasprit Bumrah on Friday re-united with the Indian team in Colombo. He had flown back to Mumbai from Pallekele to be with his wife for the birth of their first child. The pace spearhead had missed India’s group league match against Nepal.
His arrival is in time for India’s first Super 4s match against Pakistan on Sunday. It also coincided with the Asian Cricket Council (ACC)’s decision to have a reserve day for the big-ticket clash.
The forecast for next week in Colombo isn’t promising and there’s high chance
that the match may spill over to the reserve day. Heavy showers have already been forecast on Sunday.
After Thursday’s persistent rain, the weather cleared on Friday. It remained bright and sunny for most of the day as the teams took turns to practise under lights at the
R. Premadasa Stadium. The Indians began their session at 8pm and continued for over two hours.
All the players were present on Friday and mainly focused on net sessions. This included comeback men Bumrah and KL Rahul, who batted without showing any discomfort. Rahul also kept wickets for sometime.
Bumrah’s return could mean Mohammed Shami would have to be benched again if Mohammed Siraj and Shardul Thakur hold on to their places. Shardul is considered vital to prop up India’s batting in the lower order and it is unlikely that the team management would take any chances against Pakistan’s three-pronged attack.
This will be Bumrah’s first chance to bowl in a 50-over contest since returning from injury in Ireland.
The batting order too may not witness any change since Rahul is unlikely to be rushed into the playing XI. Ishan Kishan did prove himself in India’s opener in the Asia
Cup with a brilliant 82 against Pakistan and he is expected to be persisted with, at least on Sunday.
But the team management could be keen to give Rahul some game time in the lead-up to the World Cup. He may not have played a competitive game since May, but he remains firmly in their plans. So it won’t come as a surprise if the experienced wicketkeeper-batter is tried out against Sri Lanka or Bangladesh.
Rahul had his first session with the Indian team at the Nondescripts Cricket Club indoor nets on Thursday and batted for quite some time at the Premadasa on Friday too.
Chief selector Ajit Agarkar had left the choice to the team management.
“The captain-coach will sit down and decide what’s best for the team on a given day. We’re happy to have two options who will fight for a place in the team than the other way round,” Agarkar had said after announcing the provisional squad for the World Cup.
Much like Thursday, Friday’s session too concentrated on tackling Shaheen Afridi’s searing left-arm pace. Most of the Indian batters spent a lot of time with Sri Lankan throwdown specialist Nuwan Seneviratne.
Much of the focus was on Shubman Gill, who struggled against the Pakistan pace trio in their opener. His foot movement has come under intense scrutiny and there was a conscious attempt to course correct.
Since the emphasis has been on batting, Kuldeep Yadav too spent quite some time batting at nets.
Naseem fit
Naseem Shah is reportedly available for Sunday’s clash after injuring his right shoulder while fielding against Bangladesh.
