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The Indian Test regulars had assembled in Kolkata over the weekend for the first match of the two-game home series against South Africa, which will get underway on Friday. Head coach Gautam Gambhir and captain Shubman Gill, along with a few others who were part of the T20I series in Australia last week, travelled straight to the city without a day’s rest and then attended the optional training session on Tuesday. Jasprit Bumrah, Sai Sudharsan, Ravindra Jadeja, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Washington Sundar and Nitish Kumar Reddy were the other players who took part in it.
According to a report in RevSportzGambhir was the first to arrive at the ground and immediately walked to the centre to inspect the pitch, accompanied by batting coach Sitanshu Kotak and bowling coach Morne Morkel. The trio had a good, hard look at the surface for about 10 minutes before Gambhir was spotted having an extensive chat with pitch curator Sujan Mukherjee.
Gill, Jaiswal and Sudharshan, meanwhile, kicked off their batting routine at the practice nets. The report revealed that the Tamil Nadu batter, who has been under a lot of scrutiny over his form, had an extended throwdown session at the centre wicket, before Gambhir joined in. If nothing else, that part of the session suggested that India will stick to Sudharshan as their No. 3 for the Kolkata Test, despite the outside chatter.
Chief selector Ajit Agarkar had ensured last month that Sudharsan would get a long run at No. 3, but the batter is yet to justify the faith. In nine innings since his debut on the England tour, all at one down, he has managed 273 runs at an average of 30.33, with two fifties.
Amid Dhruv Jurel’s rapid rise, the pressure has mounted on both Sudharsan and the management. The wicketkeeper-batter struck his maiden Test ton in the series against West Indies last month, before following it up with back-to-back unbeaten hundreds for India A in the second unofficial Test against South Africa A in Bengaluru. As a result, head coach Gambhir has been advised to reconsider his No. 3 plans.
Gill batted for close to two hours in the nets, where he received throwdowns, before taking on the fast bowlers. Jaiswal, on the other hand, fresh off his century in the Ranji Trophy last week, faced the pacers before moving to the adjacent net to face spinners – Washington Sundar and Ravindra Jadeja – under the watchful eyes of Gambhir.
Jasprit Bumrah had a light training session. After spending half an hour warming up and bowling off a short run-up, Bumrah walked back to the dressing room. He was seen with strapping on his right knee, but soon returned to the centre wicket for a brief spell of spot bowling under the supervision of Morkel and Gambhir.
