Spinners take a beating

The Indian team went through a light fielding session before taking to the nets. And again, it was Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly who were the first to bat. And both seemed to be in good touch, and were severe on the spinners Murali Kartik and Harbhajan Singh. But Irfan Pathan and RP Singh looked to be in good form.

MS Dhoni had a restrained batting session, looking more and more like a thoughtful captain.

Sehwag and Gambhir had a late net session and Sehwag belted a few to the fence, much to the delight of a good number of spectators who had come in to see the stars in action.

Team India had a surprise visitor today at the camp, as a monkey made its presence felt. It went close enough to the nets and watched Sehwag and Gambhir. It then tried to check out the kit bags before being shooed off by the groundsmen.

After nets, manager Lalchand Rajput said: “Viru (Virender Sehwag) is undoubtedly a great player. He is an asset to the team. But we have not given a thought about his order in the line-up. We will have a team meeting today and in Guwahati and them decide.”

On India’s new-found aggression, Rajput quipped: “There is a very thin line between aggression and over aggression. We have to maintain that balance.”

Asked whether Pakistan are going to miss Mohammed Asif and Inzamam- ul Haq, Rajput said: “No doubt they are great players. But all the rest are also up there at the top. Everything will depend on how they play on a particular day.”