As they gear up to face the formidable Proteas, Indians appear positive during their eventful time at the nets
The Indian team on Thursday coerced the security into coercing the Indian media into clearing the area behind the nets at the Junction Oval in the St Kilda suburb of Melbourne. On Friday, they went a step ahead. They had the area cordoned off well before the practice session began. Smart move, you'd think. But hello, they barely used the nets. For the second day running, the centre wicket was the preferred surface.
Alastair and Patrick are grade cricketers. They are in their teens. They were among the several net bowlers in action at the four-hour-long gig.
Depending on his mood, Alastair bowls left-arm medium or left-arm fast. On Friday, he claimed to have bowled left-arm fast. He bowled for about 40 minutes. He operated from over the wicket all along. But Rohit Sharma and MS Dhoni treated him like military-medium. He didn't mind that. "They are so good at what they do. It was more a practice session for me than the Indian guys," he said.
Patrick, Alastair's friend, stands 6'4". He was nowhere to be seen after the Indians had had enough of him. So you couldn't talk to him. But Patrick bowled from round the wicket to left-handers Shikhar Dhawan, Ravindra Jadeja, Suresh Raina, and also Ajinkya Rahane. He bowled fast. Faster than Alastair. He also dug it in short, prompting Indians to play many pull shots (cued and miscued) and ducks.
To the Indians, Alastair and Patrick were the South African equivalents of Wayne Parnell and Morne Morkel/Kyle Abbott.
Fresh from his match-winning hundred against Pakistan and looking cooler after a visit to a salon, Virat Kohli chose to bat against spin all day. There is talk that South Africa may not even play their specialist spinners, leggie Imran Tahir or left-arm spinner Aaron Phangiso. That's because they boast a five-man pace battery. And that's also because India are susceptible to quality pace. But Kohli was in the mood to face spin. Joined by Rahane, he lofted Axar Patel and Jadeja to every corner of the park. Rahane was more reserved. Unlike Kohli, he chose to hit along the ground.
Then, Mahendra Singh Dhoni shared the stage with Rohit Sharma. Dhoni didn't flex his muscle like he did on Thursday. He chose to nudge the ball around. Sharma was in some mood. He kept clearing the ground every now and then.
Fielding coach R Sridhar engaged the boys in a session of pick-up-and-throw, backward runs and high catches. Noticeably R Ashwin, who hurt his right elbow on Thursday, didn't have a bowl on Friday. Also, Shikhar Dhawan was seen limping his way into the team bus. His right knee was heavily strapped. But the team management maintained that each of the 15 players was fit, fine and available for selection.
Sometime during the session, three gentlemen and a lady drove into the venue in a hatchback. After a while, they proceeded towards Mohammed Shami. The right-armer was the day's pick for a random dope test. After collecting the sample, they drove away.
Steyn hits the ground running
The flu is gone. And Dale Steyn is fine. On Friday morning, the world's best pacer put to rest all doubts surrounding his availability for Sunday's match by bowling at full speed at the MCG nets. Skipper AB de Villiers suffered a minor injury scare during catching drills, but some ice-pack treatment helped him get back on to the field. He then batted as he always does.
Virat Kohli
Kohli chose to bat against spin all day, lofting Axar Patel and Ravindra Jadeja to every corner of the park
Ajinkya Rahane
Rahane, too, played a lot of spin. But unlike Kohli, he was more reserved and hit mostly along the ground
MS Dhoni
MS Dhoni didn't flex his muscles like he did a day ago. On Friday, he chose to nudge the ball around
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