Ahmedabad: The distance between the Oval in London and the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad is roughly 6,853 km, and Tuesday was not Aug 4, when Mohammed Siraj and Prasidh Krishna kept steaming in, despite running on fumes, to bowl India to a famous win over England. Yet, for 45 minutes, it felt that way as the two Oval heroes charged in at all the Indian top-order batters in an energetic afternoon practice session.Siraj kept KL Rahul honest, troubled Yashasvi Jaiswal, and even got skipper Shubman Gill to nick a delivery. His mock appeal with the trademark style, where he has his arms spread wide open, triggered laughter in the group and drew a smile from Gill even as bowling coach Morne Morkel played the umpire’s role. Gill looked to be a touch out of rhythm as he kept either edging deliveries behind or getting beaten. Fans would hope that in his first Test as captain in India, Gill would come good at a stadium he knows well, as he plays for Gujarat Titans.Bumrah, Axar, Kuldeep take it easyThe team management announced that Tuesday’s net session would be an optional one for the Asia Cup-bound members. Hence, Axar Patel, Jasprit Bumrah and Kuldeep Yadav chose to take the day off.The players and support staff flying in from Dubai landed in the early hours and checked into their hotels at 3:30 am on Tuesday.Le Roux makes players sweatEarlier, team strength and conditioning coach Adrian Le Roux put all the players through their paces. In between sprints and stretches, there came the odd encouragement. “Come on, good. I’m looking now for shorter strides but with your knees higher as you hop,” he yelled during one of the drills.Le Roux, who has worked with IPL teams like KKR and Punjab Kings, replaced Soham Desai as India’s strength and conditioning coach in June. During his previous stint with India from 2002 to 2003, the Men in Blue produced some of their most consistent results.Sundar injured? Washington Sundar seemed to be troubled by a finger injury, which restricted his participation in the catching drills. As he looked disconsolate, skipper Gill sat with him on the drinks cart to check what the matter was. Ravindra Jadeja, Nitish Kumar Reddy, and Mohammed Siraj also gathered in a group to have a look at Sundar’s hand.
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Sundar did have a long bowl, though, but he seemed to be in discomfort and asked the team doctor for some extra tape on his bowling hand. Sundar has emerged as a key figure for India with both bat and ball since last Oct, when New Zealand toured India, and even made telling contributions in England and Australia.
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