India begin preparatory camp ahead of England Tests

[rkt.india]

While the visiting Englishmen played their third warm-up game of the India tour in Ahmedabad, India's Test side eased into its three-day preparatory camp for the upcoming series with a short practice session at the Cricket Club of India (CCI) in south Mumbai. All members of the squad, barring Harbhajan Singh, whose flight was delayed, arrived at the CCI in the afternoon, along with coach Duncan Fletcher, and batted and bowled for a little more than an hour after a short game of football. With the World Twenty20 and Champions League T20 having consumed most of September and October, this was the first outing for India's Test side in nine weeks, the first after the New Zealand series at home. The fitness of Zaheer Khan, who had lasted all of 13.3 overs on India's tour of England last year, was again in focus. Zaheer had pulled up sore, pointing towards his groin, on the third day of Mumbai's Ranji Trophy opener against Railways last week, and had walked off the field. He didn't bowl or field on the fourth and final day, but Mumbai captain Ajit Agarkar had said Zaheer's problem was just cramp. Today, while the other quick bowlers in the India squad, Umesh Yadav and Ishant Sharma, bowled through the mini-session, Zaheer spent the majority of his time on the massage table. He eventually did bowl for a while but was clearly not extending himself. On the other hand, Ishant and Umesh, especially, bowled with pace and rhythm. The batsmen took to the nets as per the batting order in batches of four, with Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Cheteshwar Pujara and Sachin Tendulkar starting off. Pujara looked in fine touch, defending and attacking confidently, though the bowling was below par at times. With various age-group matches going on in Mumbai at the moment, it was difficult to assemble decent young net bowlers. Two of those bowlers, though, managed to hit Tendulkar's stumps once each with the batsman appearing a touch tentative. Tendulkar did loft R Ashwin crisply a few times and soon left the nets to receive a few throwdowns. Next in were Virat Kohli, Yuvraj Singh, Ajinkya Rahane and MS Dhoni. Gambhir and M Vijay, the reserve opener, continued to bat into the fading light after the rest were done. After Gambhir walked off eventually, Vijay hit a few more for a while against the local spinners and was the last player to leave the nets. The squad will have a full training session tomorrow.

http://www.espncricinfo.com/india-v-england-2012/content/story/590532.html

[Crookbond]

The batsmen took to the nets as per the batting order in batches of four, with Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Cheteshwar Pujara and Sachin Tendulkar starting off. Pujara looked in fine touch, defending and attacking confidently, though the bowling was below par at times. With various age-group matches going on in Mumbai at the moment, it was difficult to assemble decent young net bowlers. Two of those bowlers, though, managed to hit Tendulkar's stumps once each with the batsman appearing a touch tentative.

:nervous:

[Old guy]

zaheer wont play i think so its gonna be ishant ,yadav or maybe one seamer and 3 spinners :nervous: also i will add im having good feeling about umesh he looked in good rhythm in tht t20 tournament if he bowls in same way he can do very well

[cowboysfan]

Its just sad to see what zak has become,his body is not upto it.

[SLICKR392]

We need Zak to get Cook or he will tuk tuk the whole day. :facepalm:

[Crookbond]

Zaheer, Tendulkar tune up at preparatory camp http://www.espncricinfo.com/india-v-england-2012/content/current/story/590645.html

Zaheer Khan exuded purpose and found his rhythm, Sachin Tendulkar's back-foot punch made regular appearances and the India squad seemingly had a fairly satisfactory five hours of practice on day two of their three-day preparatory camp in Mumbai ahead of the England Test series. While the players had practised for a little more than an hour on Friday, today was their first proper workout as a Test side in the nine weeks since the New Zealand series. Again, like on day one of the camp, all eyes were on Zaheer. Whatever he does on the field is closely scrutinised, such has been his tendency to break down, combined with his importance to India's Test side. Over the years, Zaheer has missed or pulled out during several big series due to injury. He had pulled up sore during Mumbai's Ranji Trophy opener against Railways last week. On Friday, Zaheer had spent the majority of his time on the massage table. He eventually did bowl for a while but was clearly not extending himself. These days, it takes him an eternity to warm up. There is a pronounced cautiousness to his stretches and squats as if he is worried when something might snap somewhere in his body. Today, though, with the ball in hand he looked a different man. He started with a few gentle ones before increasing the speed of both his run-up and his deliveries. His focus seemed to be on targeting the angle across the right-hand batsmen. Though he was not unplayable, he tested the batsmen. What was good to see was that he remained intense throughout his spell - and it wasn't a short one. Zaheer bowled for about forty minutes in the first session, and again for a similar period of time after the lunch interval. Another key player who had been tentative on Friday, Tendulkar, also looked a different man today. He faced the three India fast bowlers - Zaheer, Ishant Sharma and Umesh Yadav - with control, and without too many problems. The leaves were confident, the straight pushes were firm and, soon, the trademark back-foot punches appeared. He stood on his toes to send a rising Ishant delivery through extra cover. He pressed far forward to drive him down the ground. When Ishant moved one in close to off stump, Tendulkar left it safely and nodded towards the bowler in appreciation. Unlike yesterday when they had batted in the nets, the batsmen played today against proper fields. Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir started off, followed by Cheteshwar Pujara and Tendulkar, Virat Kohli and Yuvraj Singh, and Ajinkya Rahane and MS Dhoni. M Vijay, the reserve opener, batted along with the bowlers, who were out in full strength today with Harbhajan Singh joining the squad. Harbhajan came out in the second session, and after a lengthy fielding drill that included slip catching, and bowled to his fellow bowlers.

I found the last sentence, for some reason, damn funny!

[shortbread]

I found the last sentence, for some reason, damn funny!

Helps the tailend to practice against flat yorkers!!

[Pagalpanti]

What a snap that.. Sachin looking solid. Hopefully he's sorted out his technical flaw, for India to win he needs to fire.

[SLICKR392]

^ Tendulkar in form is a bonus but for India to win with ease, we need Viru to fire. He needs to be in damn good form. Can win us any game any day.

[Vilander]

Something is not right, india dont usually fret so much for poms at home.

[Trichromatic]

Something is not right' date=' india dont usually fret so much for poms at home.[/quote'] This batting line-up has consistently failed in 18 months or so.

[vamos_rafa]

Something is not right' date=' india dont usually fret so much for poms at home.[/quote'] Now, even preparing hard is also a problem! :facepalm:

[CricLind]

This batting line-up has consistently failed in 18 months or so.

Exactly, in case one hadn't noticed, all the 3 senior batsmen have been doing horribly. And Zaheer will most certainly break down sometime leaving us with a 3 bowler attack, and this will mean that Yuvi (if selected) will have to bowl tons of overs, and maybe he will get injured as well.

[Pagalpanti]

This batting line-up has consistently failed in 18 months or so.

More concerning fact is they've failed at home as well. Sachin, Sehwag and Gambhir without a century in last 2 years. Thats half our batting which is not clicking, 2 others have retired. Our batting has never looked this vulnerable.

[vamos_rafa]

More concerning fact is they've failed at home as well. Sachin' date=' Sehwag and Gambhir without a century in last 2 years. Thats half our batting which is not clicking, 2 others have retired. Our batting has never looked this vulnerable.[/quote'] At home Sachin struggled only against the Kiwis. He did pretty well against WI last years, while scoring a few impotant and much needed runs.

[SLICKR392]

^ So has Sehwag. He scored 2 back to back 50's in the first 2 innings of the first test and one more in the 2nd or 3rd test I think. Gambhir failed miserably there aswell with just one 50+ score.

[Crookbond]

Gambhir has been a massive disappointment in the last 10 odd Test matches since the 2010 tour of South Africa.

[Bhaveshgor]

did we use the same ball as england in the 2011 series. england used the 2010 ball in that series, but what ball did india use. comment from cricinfo. A warm-up match is exactly that - a warm-up match. It is not a "skill improvement" match. Since Swann is such a world class bowler, why can't he bowl to the England batsmen for practice? Indian sides have every right and it would be in the right spirit to give their youngsters and less experienced players a chance to have a go at English batsmen. Front line Indian batsmen are also not playing these games, so why isn't Cook complaining about that? On India's dismal tour of England, England used balls that were more than a year old that are known to swing more, while the Indians were given brand new balls. Nothing illegal, but English enough to be considered sporting? england poor bowling in the 2012 series against West indies and South africa was blamed partly on running out of the 2010 balls and they had to use the 2011 and 2012 balls, but the question i ask did india use the 2010 ball or the 2011 ball ? it wouldn't have made a huge difference to the scoreline, but shouldn't both side use the same ball type.

[daryl1985]

1.1 Kumar to Cook, no run, good grief! This has swung about 14 yards! Starts outside leg and snakes past the outside edge 1.2 Kumar to Cook, no run, and again! Cook beaten! Kumar is swinging it a mile at no pace at all. Fascinating really Descriptions of the 1st two balls (from Cricinfo)bowled by Praveen Kumar in the series. Both sides used the same ball, England just had the better batsmen and bowlers.

[rkt.india]

England had bowled consistently well and quick and our batsmen could not handle them. Bresnan and Broad were particularly quicker than they have bowled since then and movement at that pace is always tought handle.