Tags:
Journalism of Courage
A rigorous fielding drill is something coach Gary Kirsten is particular about after every Team India net session. It essentially revolves around a tennis racquet and the heavy red tennis ball,which is hit at high speeds from a short distance.
Kirsten likes to see players use the long barrier,which means ensuring that the knee closest to the ball touches the ground sideways in order to act as a cushion,if the fielder fails to collect cleanly. But following the massive loss against Sri Lanka on Sunday,Kirsten was forced to spend as much energy on the batting sessions,and not so much on his beloved fielding drills.
On Tuesday,a day after India were bowled out for 103 against Sri Lanka,Kirsten gave his undivided attention to the batsmen at the practice nets.
It perhaps was just a coincidence that he didnt conduct the fielding drills after India put on another humiliating batting show,their second in three games. There was nothing out of ordinary that Kirsten,or for that matter bowling coach Eric Simmons did,but the attention to detail paid to every batsman was unmistakable.
The wicket here at the Rangiri Dambulla International cricket stadium hasnt suited the likes of the Indian batsmen,with only one of them making a half century Virender Sehwag 99 not out in three team innings. The first time they capitulated 88 all out versus NZ,it was attributed to the spongy bounce,and on Sunday the strangulating line-and-length did in the star-studded line-up.
Coach Kirsten manned the batting nets at the left,while the spinners operated in the middle and the one on the right was for the fast bowlers. The batsmen in the side paid a visit to all three nets,in no particular order,but the one in which batsmen faced throwdowns from the coach was the finishing school for the day.
Opener Dinesh Karthik has time-and-again failed to counter the moving ball. Kirstens throwdowns to the wicket-keeper batsman were interrupted by some pep talk from the coach. For Karthik,who is yet to make a one-day century,the session was about keeping the faith and believing in his abilities.
Every time Rohit Sharma flashed at a ball outside the off stump or tried to play across the line of an in-cutter,Kirsten walked up to the batsman and had a quiet word.
Suresh Raina may be the blue-eyed boy of Indian cricket at the moment,but he wont be too pleased with his one-day form. In 13 matches,Raina hasnt scored a half-century. Kirsten ensured that Raina did the little things well,like driving on the front foot only after getting to the pitch of the ball and trying to curtail his tendency to hang his bat out while playing off the back foot.
Virat Kohli didnt really enjoy his batting session,often failing to react in time to the pace of Ishant Sharma and then being deceived by the spinners Ravichandran Ashwin,Pragyan Ojha and Ravindra Jadeja. It was this quartet of batsmen who Kirsten paid extra attention to on Monday.
The medium-pacers too did overtime at the nets. Praveen Kumar,once tipped to develop into a fine all-rounder,Ashwin and Ashish Nehra spent close to half-an-hour facing the Sri Lankan Cricket age-group bowlers and also faced throw downs from Kirsten.
Kirsten loved the energy shown by Ishant Sharma in the nets on Monday. But in this tri-series,unlike in the Tests,he is having to worry about the batters rather than the bowlers.
