In the bowling department, while Mohammad Siraj, Shardul Thakur, Akshar Patel, Jaidev Unadkat and Umesh Yadav were part of the first batch going to England, the departure of pace leader Mohammad Shami was delayed as the IPL final in Ahmedabad last Sunday was postponed to a reserve day after incessant rain.
Key middle order player Virat Kohli was also among the players who left in the first game along with the coaching staff led by Rahul Dravid. Kohli joined the camp on Monday along with Cheteshwar Pujara, who joined the team in England as he was busy playing in the Sussex County Championship.
The Indian team is expected to hold some training sessions at Arundel Castle Cricket Club in Sussex ahead of the big final.
So far, preparations are going well. In the beginning we wanted to ease into training, but the last two sessions have gone pretty well – I think we’ve pushed it a little bit. Just added some workload to the bowlers, just got them ready for the Test match, Indian bowlers coach Paras Mhambri said in a video released by the BCCI.
(We’re) happy with the conditions, I think it’s a great venue, (it’s) what you can expect. The weather is holding up, it’s been sunny, a little windy, a little chilly, but it’s something we have to get used to (when) we play in England, he said.
Indian fielders coach Tee Dilip said the focus will be on catching the ball from close range, as the running portion of the practice was done in the IPL.
The players came from the IPL, so the key thing for us was the workload, how much they ran, how much they practiced.
What we understood and learned from that is that things like (like) fielding on the ground were covered in the IPL, so here we focused more on catching volume, especially when you talk about short range catching, slip catching and flat catching. Those are the types of fishing we’re looking to increase, he said.
Mhambri said that while bowlers will get some rest in the days leading up to the WTC finals, the group intends to make the most of the training.
We have two more workouts now, and we want to build momentum in a couple of sessions, especially with the bowlers. We all have an easier option the day before the test match, and the bowlers have a day off.maybe one or two sessions before that.
If you look at it, thewe have three quality sessions where we can push them and try to get the most out of each session, he said.
Indian batting coach Vikram Rathur said the focus will be on adjusting to the longest format.
They have all played cricket many times. No matter how much time we get, the main thing is to adapt to a different format, get used to playing with the red ball, do some sessions and get used to the format, he said.