Kolkata: Former India captain Sourav Ganguly was ‘cold-shouldered’ today by Ravi Shastri and Virat Kohli at the Eden Gardens. None of the Indian cricketers went to the Cricket Association of Bengal President while he was inspecting at the wickets at the Eden Gardens. Sourav was seen walking into the Eden Gardens while the Indian team was having their practice session. The Indian captain was batting at the nets then when Sourav walked into the middle with CAB curator Sujan Mukherjee. Somewhat surprisingly none of the Indian cricketers nor any one from the team management were seen going up to Sourav and showing him the courtesy. The former captain was seen having a long discussion with the curator over the wicket for almost 10 minutes before he started walking back to the pavilion.
Meanwhile in a bid to correct his front foot drive, which of late has been the reason for his dismissals, India skipper Virat Kohli on Tuesday was seen using a shorter bat handle while practising at the nets ahead of India’s first Test against Sri Lanka in two days’ time here at the Eden Gardens.
Kohli called for a Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) staff moments before hitting the nets, asking him to chop off the top part of his bat handle with coach Ravi Shastri and national selector Devang Gandhi in tow.
Of late, Kohli hasn’t been at ease while driving on the front foot, getting out quite a few times against Australia in the limited-overs series.
A shorter handle means there is less scope to hold the handle tight which may help the batsman drive along the ground, not in the air.
In the last five innings in white-ball cricket, Kohli has only one century, a 113 versus New Zealand.
Meanwhile, the grass which was there on the Eden track on Monday seemed to have been removed considerably. Shastri, Ravindra Jadeja and Kohli had a look at the wicket. Former captain and CAB president Sourav Ganguly was also seen near the 22-yard strip as the team India players sweated it out in the middle.
Test specialist Chesteshwar Pujara, who did not train on Monday, spent a lot of time in the nets while opener Murali Vijay was also seen bowling to Kohli.