Debasis Sen, Birmingham: A bright and sunny afternoon welcomed the Indian cricket team on Monday at the Edgbaston Cricket Ground. After two days of continuous drizzle, the sun at last made its appearance here in Birmingham.
The Indians had a rigorous practice session which went for almost 4 hours. The focus obviously was to get enough practice and acclimatizing to the conditions on offer. Head Coach Ravi Shastri walked straight to the 22 yards on entering the ground. The 22 yards from the boundary line looked a bit green although a lot of mowing took place towards the evening. The wicket does seem likely to offer some bounce for both the teams. Captain Virat Kohli and Ravichandran Ashwin also had a thorough look at the wicket before engaging themselves in the fielding drills.
The team management has the luxury of picking two openers from the three available. At the moment Murali Vijay looks certain for a place in the playing XI. But it will be interesting who partners Vijay at the top. The training session on Monday did indicate that Dhawan may get an opportunity. The left hander has the backing of team management. Coach Ravi Shastri was seen having a long discussion with the opener. At the end of it the Head Coach was seen laying his hands of assurance on Dhawan’s shoulders.
Vijay had a decent outing in the three day practice match against Essex, scoring runs in both innings on a green, seaming pitch. On the 2014 tour of England, Vijay was India’s best batsman. He was the third-highest run-maker overall, and the only batsman on either side to face more than 1000 balls. Vijay faced 1054 deliveries to score 402 runs at an average of 40.20, with a century and two half-centuries, one of them a match-winning third-innings 95 at Lord’s.
Numbers 3-6 looks almost settled with Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane and Dinesh Karthik making up the middle order. The Indian captain batted alongside Pujara and Rahane at the nets after the openers finished their turn. Kohli took throw-downs on the first net while Rahane batted against Jadeja and Ashwin. Pujara faced the likes of Umesh, Pandya and Shardul.
Hardik Pandya will come in at No.7 followed by Ravindra Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin. The two medium pacers will be Umesh Yadav and Ishant Sharma. Mohammad Shami looked a little bit rusty.
It will be a little surprising to see Kuldeep Yadav missing out in the playing XI as he looked to be the most impressive bowler during the ODI & T20I series here, resulting in the selectors picking him in the test squad.