Sidearm practice time cut down for flat Dubai decks

On a cool Wednesday evening, three pitches were laid out at the ICC academy nets for the Indian batters to practice on ahead of their third league match against New Zealand.

- Rasesh Mandani

DUBAI:

KL Rahul and Shreyas Iyer took guard in the first net to face spinners. In the second, Virat Kohli marked his guard before switching with Rishabh Pant every few minutes to face fast bowling. At the third, there was less activity as India's three sidearm specialists lay in wait for the players to turn up.

It's been a common trend all through India's training sessions in Dubai during the Champions Trophy. The regular batters have preferred facing bowlers more and cut down on time against the throwdown specialists. Kohli practiced against a number of academy spinners before the Pakistan match.

The sidearm device ubiquitous in net sessions manipulates swing and speed of the ball with a simple flick of the wrist, helping batters train effectively against high pace. The Indian team has three of them Raghavendra, Dayanand Garani and left-armer Nuwan Seneviratne. All used extensively by the batters and well appreciated.