It’s a bit of leg-pulling and perfecting basics at nets

The Indian team was lucky. It just managed to evade rain somehow and squeeze in their first full net...

The Indian team was lucky. It just managed to evade rain somehow and squeeze in their first full net session outdoors. And, as it happened, it was a real fun event. With plenty of time in hand ahead of their next match, it was time to work on their basics and try try out some little innovations.

So, Ishant Sharma was ensuring that he doesn’t bowl a no-ball while Robin Uthappa was working to tackle the short-stuff that he’s expected to encounter against the Australians again and Harbhajan Singh was having a wild time with Sachin’s bat, whacking everyone over for a biggie.

Though there weren’t many net bowlers around, this team does have a dozen all-rounders and it was easy to maintain three different nets while the fourth one was operated for knocking the ball around with Robin Singh in operation with the ball. That’s when DJ—that’s Dhanajaya, the team computer analyst for the uninitiated—opted to show his rare ability to bowl with different actions. Rohit Sharma was at the other end batting and DJ quickly turned into a spinner and bowled like Murali, even trying to mock his facial expressions.

DJ did manage to rap him on the pads as Yuvraj, who was watching, raised the finger slowly, mocking umpire Rudi Koertzen, all in fun against Rohit. The Mumbai batsman was fined 10 per cent of his match fees for showing dissent after being given out by Koertzen off Muralitharan. And they all had a little laugh.

It was getting cold and windy by then. The jumpers were quickly on when the situation just heated up for a moment. A group of Australian fans shouted hoarse “Aussie, Aussie, Aussie. You won’t beat them eva,” as the Indian team tried to concentrate for their February 10 match against the hosts. Munaf was quick to respond in his native Hindi and the fans all ran away immediately.

The Maharashtra seamer couldn’t control his smile at the impact. Munaf was looking good with the ball too in the evening, working up a bit of pace and getting appreciable movement. The Indian team is having a problem of plenty in the bowling department, but the team seems happy with that particular headache. They haven’t had a look at the wicket yet, but after an early morning session tomorrow, they are all back in their rooms just in time for the Australia-Lanka match to start. It’s the rematch of World Cup final, and Indians have an extra reason to keep their eyes glued to the TV sets.