NEW DELHI: Spin dominated India’s net session on the eve of their T20 World Cup clash against the Netherlands, with Abhishek Sharma’s towering sixes stealing the spotlight.
Yet to open his account in the tournament, Abhishek spent over an hour at the crease in the middle of the main square at the expansive venue.
Known for scoring freely in front of the wicket, the left hander stayed true to his strengths, repeatedly targeting the cow corner and deep cover regions against a net off spinner and Varun Chakaravarthy.
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When the pacers came on, Abhishek mixed in the pull and the pick up shot behind square. Against all three bowlers, sixes flowed regularly.
Just when it seemed his stint was over, Abhishek padded up again alongside captain Suryakumar Yadav. Kuldeep Yadav then joined the session, but anything pitched full was swiftly dispatched towards extra cover.
In the adjacent nets, Tilak Varma and Rinku Singh also devoted considerable time to tackling spin.
Only half the squad trained at the ground, including Abhishek, Chakaravarthy, Suryakumar, Tilak, Kuldeep, Washington Sundar and Arshdeep Singh.
Spin focus ahead of Netherlands clash
The emphasis on spin was clear throughout the session, reflecting the surfaces India have encountered so far in the tournament.
With conditions expected to assist slower bowlers, the batters appeared intent on sharpening their approach against both conventional and unorthodox spin.
Rinku’s round arm off spin experiment
After an extended batting stint, Rinku returned to try his hand at off spin with a round arm action that resembled Gerhard Erasmus during Namibia’s recent game against India. The Namibia skipper had unsettled Indian batters with his unusual release point from well behind the stumps in Delhi last week.
India’s struggles against part time and unconventional spin were also visible in the Pakistan clash, where the likes of Usman Tariq and Saim Ayub managed to keep the batters in check. Although the Colombo surface was challenging, Ishan Kishan’s standout innings ultimately tilted the contest decisively in India’s favour.
(With PTI Inputs)
