It's been a long season, not easy playing 17 Test matches on the trot, especially for the bowling unit. And of course the batsmen, it takes its own toll.
In-form India opener Murali Vijay is back to fitness after missing the second Test in Bengaluru last week due to left shoulder injury.
On Tuesday, the Indian team's first practice session after the 75-run win against Australia, Vijay jogged two rounds along the boundary of the JSCA International Stadium and dashed to the pitch and did shadow practised a few shots with a stump, even feeling if his shoulder was fine. He did not seem to be in any discomfort.
Vijay's return to the Test 11 will mean his Tamil Nadu team-mate Abhinav Mukund making way for him. "Vijay is fine. He is a part of the squad, so he is good," said head coach Anil Kumble, when asked for the opener's injury update.
Like Vijay's latest, the Indian Test team has been hit by injuries to its key players at various stages in the last couple of years. With this being a long home season of 13 Tests, add four more in the West Indies and it is 17 Tests in the last nine months, the Indian players have coped well with fitness and focus.
Kumble said: "I think they (bowlers) have responded really well. It's been a long season, not easy playing 17 Test matches on the trot, especially for the bowling unit. And of course the batsmen, it takes its own toll. Md Shami is injured as a bowler and he is coming back.
"So, we had some injuries but they have responded well to the challenges that have come about. The have had a lot of overs under the belt and that's something obviously augurs well, if you are winning constantly and keep performing the way we have been performing at home that helps. That's been the hallmark.
"You can't point out at just one individual in the whole series that has given us these results. I think every individual has stood up and the captain had led from the front. So, it's really nice and augurs well that each individual has contributed to the success. We would like to finish the last two Test matches in a very good way, and I am sure it will be something that we will be cherishing at the end of the season."
With Shami injured and the spin twins Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja picking being the star bowlers, someone like Umesh Yadav may not have that many number of wickets but has bowled equally effective this season.
Kumble was all praise for the Vidarbha right-arm pacer Yadav. He said: "We have seen what Umesh is capable of. Although he doesn't have the kind of wickets that you would expect, the way he has bowled and the way he has given us those breakthroughs, he may not have a five-wicket haul but every time he has bowled, he looked like he would pick up a five-for. And that's the kind of maturity and improvement Umesh has shown. It's credit to him that whichever spell he comes to bowl, he gives those breakthroughs.
"Yes, the chunk of the wickets have been to the spinners, and I am glad that Ashwin will always be spoken about but I am really glad that Jadeja has come up and done what he is capable of. Really glad that both of them currently top the ICC rankings."
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
 "Umesh Yadav")
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}