After his poor showing during the Galle Test, India captain Shubman Gill decided to fine-tune his game against left-arm spinners ahead of the Colombo Test on Friday, August 21. However, Kuldeep Yadav and KL Rahul decided to skip the training session.
Gill endured a difficult outing against left-arm spin in the opening Test in Galle, with Prabath Jayasuriya getting the better of him in both innings. The Indian captain managed scores of 16 and 8, although his struggles did not prevent India from securing a convincing 165-run victory. The second Test of the series is scheduled to begin in Colombo on August 23.
Gill’s difficulties against orthodox left-arm spinners have often stemmed from his tendency to leave gaps while covering the line of the delivery. That weakness surfaced again in Galle, where Jayasuriya repeatedly managed to trouble him.
The numbers also highlight the challenge. Across his 42 Test appearances, Gill has been dismissed by left-arm orthodox spinners on 11 occasions.
With another Test approaching, Gill spent an extended period at the Sinhalese Sports Club nets working specifically on countering left-arm spin. He faced India’s Manav Suthar and Ravindra Jadeja, along with a couple of local bowlers, as he looked to sharpen his technique ahead of the Colombo Test.
India’s spin-bowling coach Sairaj Bahutule shed light on the session, explaining that Gill was making adjustments with the conditions in Colombo in mind and working on ways to become more effective against the left-arm spin threat.
“The way he plays, there is a flow of runs always. So, he is somebody who is just assessing the pitch condition, pace of the pitch and seeing what are the type of shots he can play, what are the defences he can manoeuvre. He is just adapting to the conditions.
“There is nothing too much into it in terms of planning how he is going to approach. He just follows his natural way of playing each innings,” said Bahutule.
WHY DID KULDEEP, RAHUL MISS NETS?
Kuldeep was present during India’s net session but did not take part in either the batting or bowling drills. Off-spinner Saransh Jain, meanwhile, spent some time bowling to Rishabh Pant and Shubman Gill, and managed to trouble Pant on a couple of occasions.
However, it would be premature to interpret Jain’s involvement as an indication that he is in line to replace Kuldeep in India’s playing XI for the second Test.
“Both KL and Kuldeep are resting. We finished five days of match, we travelled from Galle. So that’s the reason,” said Bahutule.
Kuldeep had a relatively quiet outing in Galle, finishing with figures of 1 for 103 from 25 overs. Even his lone wicket came with significant help from Shubman Gill, who produced an athletic effort at cover to complete the dismissal.
KL Rahul, India’s opener and vice-captain, did not attend the net session. Dhruv Jurel arrived later and spent some time working on his batting.
Both Rahul and Jurel had made important contributions in the opening Test, scoring well-constructed half-centuries as India went on to register a 165-run victory.
– Ends
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