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MELBOURNE: “Neeche dekh raha hai… pata chal gaya bouncer daal raha hai (you are looking down, I figured you will bowl a bouncer)”
Rohit Sharma got into the position quickly and comfortably pulled Mohammed Siraj’s short-pitched delivery. He was all smiles after that and told his teammate how he figured it would be an attempted bouncer.
Siraj had briefly paused, which most bowlers do in the nets, for feedback and was clearly caught unaware when Rohit revealed how he got the cue. The quick returned to the top of his run-up for the next delivery but will keep the words in mind when he decides to bowl a bouncer in remainder of the Border-Gavaskar series.
India cricket team’s nets sessions are always fun but they were very chatty today and had epic one-liners from the likes of Rohit, Jasprit Bumrah and Rishabh Pant.
Rohit set the tone when he mocked Washington Sundar’s over-enthusiasm after every delivery and lightened up the mood as even the handful of spectators joined in with the laughs.
Bumrah would go “arrey, re…re” every time he had the openers Yashasvi Jaiswal and KL Rahul in a tangle, and even comforted the left-hander when he nicked an away going delivery. “Theek hai, carry nahi hoga (it’s alright, it won’t carry to fielder),” he would say to the youngster who looked short on confidence during the first phase of his batting.
In between deliveries, Jaiswal would get pep talks from Virat Kohli, batting in the adjacent net, and Rahul continued with his mentoring and constant feedback when the two openers made way for each other.
It was challenging for the two as Akash Deep and Siraj were also bowling at full tilt, and looked in good rhythm, but it was Bumrah who asked the tough questions. There was a lot of fire in his belly and it continued even when Rishabh Pant took guard for his hit.
“Na batsman [batter] ko match mai ready hone dete ho, na practice mein (you don’t allow batter to get ready in match or practice),” chuckled the youngster after he was rushed by a delivery which skidded off the good-length spot.
Bumrah smiled and resumed breathing fire after another twitch of his shoulder muscles. Even when he was done, he sat and discussed a lot of cricket with his teammates but the spectators would have been a tad disappointed they didn’t hear much from Kohli.
The star India batter had a brief chat with Jaiswal while they were batting in adjacent nets but not a lot could be heard from that conversation. Except the rare “yes, one” and nod of the head, more like a pat on his own back, after he made connection with the ball, there were only murmurs with Shubman Gill in Punjabi but unlike Rohit, Bumrah and Pant’s loud and clear one-liners, they weren’t audible.
Even after the challenges of the surface, the harsh sun and some blows to their batters on both days, India looked a very happy bunch right from their warm-ups to their intense sessions in the nets.
They would hope the chatter, banter and good vibes continue when they take field in front of a capacity crowd at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. For the fans and spectators, the stump-mic will ensure not a single one-liner goes unnoticed on what could be very loud days of Test cricket.
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