BENGALURU, Aug 25: For the first couple of hours of India’s nets on Friday morning, KL Rahul seemed set for a session in isolation. The 31-year-old, sporting a fitness-tracking vest, was put through his paces by the team’s conditioning coaches. He began with stretches and a few shuttle sprints while Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill walked out to bat for their simulation drill against Mohammed Siraj and left-armer Yash Dayal.
Rahul made a conditional return from a lengthy injury layoff as BCCI named him in the Asia Cup squad. While Shreyas Iyer – also coming back from a long injury – padded up and waited for his turn to bat alongside Virat Kohli, Rahul continued his elaborate fitness routine.
The Karnataka batter had faced a recent setback during his rehabilitation at the National Cricket Academy as he picked up a niggle.
Eventually, two hours into India’s morning session at the Platinum Oval in Alur, Rahul trudged out to bat under sweltering conditions with Suryakumar Yadav – the No.5 incumbent in the format. India chose to send out pairs in accordance with the expected batting order, with Kohli and Iyer following Rohit and Gill to make up the top-four.
Rahul’s session began with a thickish outside edge to third man before he settled down quickly and showed no discomfort while facing the seam bowling pair of Shardul Thakur and Akash Deep.
Keeping a close eye on Rahul’s session were his captain Rohit and chairman of selectors Ajit Agarkar. While there were no sprints between the wickets, Rahul was decisive with his footwork and shot-making – flicking Shardul through and over midwicket on separate occasions.
When the spinners – Axar Patel and Mayank Markande – came on, Rahul pulled out more shots from his arsenal, including a pair of sweeps and a reverse sweep against the left-arm spinner.
Incidentally, the incumbent wicketkeeper in India’s XI – Ishan Kishan – underwent keeping drills with fielding coach T Dilip, not too far away from where Rahul was adding miles to his legs.
Rahul’s batting session – nearly an hour long – ended with a chat with head coach Rahul Dravid and batting coach Vikram Rathour.
India’s batting for the session revolved around match scenarios with the openers facing pacers with the new ball before consolidating against the spin pair of Rahul Chahar and Ravindra Jadeja.
Kohli and Iyer also faced pace in the form of Mohammed Shami and Dayal, with the quicks even directing short balls at Iyer. The right-hander seemed at ease dealing with the bouncers, and displayed no rust despite being on a comeback trail himself. There was a concerted effort to practice against specific bowling types – notably left-arm fast bowling (Dayal) and wrist spin (Chahar and Markande).
India’s skill camp continues for the next four days.(Agencies)
