27 September,2024 07:29 AM IST | Kanpur | Santosh Suri
India head coach Gautam Gambhir (left), fielding coach T Dilip, offie R Ashwin (centre), captain Rohit Sharma and bowling coach Morne Morkel (right) during a practice session in Kanpur yesterday. Pic/PTI
The threat of rain has added a new dimension to the second Test match beginning at Green Park today. Inclement weather forced the Indian think-tank to put on hold their strategy for the match till the morning. The combination they plan to go with will depend on how the new day dawns. After the Indian team had finished their nets on Thursday morning, it began to rain. As a result, the whole ground had to be covered, denying Bangladesh the opportunity to have their final pre-match practice session.
The first Test in Chennai had also begun with a cloud cover which influenced Bangladesh to bowl first despite knowing that batting last on Indian pitches is always dicey. With a heavy cloud cover hanging over Kanpur, it will be interesting to see if the team winning the toss will again be tempted to bowl first. When India's assistant coach Abhishek Nayar was asked what the team strategy would be with the rain threat looming, he said; "We will wait and watch till the morning. We will have to see how the weather turns out tomorrow [Friday]."
When Nayar was queried if the team were considering playing local boy, Kuldeep Yadav, he replied that the playing XI hadn't been finalised and the conditions on Day 1 would be crucial in determining it. "The team combination and the strategy will have to be decided looking at the weather forecast. As for the playing XI, I cannot offer you any information at this juncture. But we are hoping we come in tomorrow to a sunny day and not an overcast Kanpur," he said, adding "all the players are fit and rearing to go."
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Though the Indian team have their tails up after winning the first Test convincingly, they have a couple of issues that need to be sorted. The foremost is the form of their two most experienced batters, skipper Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli. As the duo could not fire in Chennai, head coach Gautam Gambhir as well as Rohit and Kohli themselves would be eager to get back among the runs ahead of the crucial three-match Test series against New Zealand at home from October 16 and the five-match Test series in Australia in December and January.
Similarly, the team management is willing to give KL Rahul a long rope. They realise he has the talent and experience to succeed on bouncy surfaces Down Under. Nayar said: "I feel KL is someone who understands his game very well. In South Africa, he played tremendous knocks. We are very hopeful⦠the kind of talk Gautam and I have had with him, hopefully, we can have a turnaround in KL as well.
"These things sometimes take time. But I feel the way he is batting, even in the last game, I know we did not end up giving him much in the second innings [when he remained unbeaten on 22 as India declared the innings]. I am pretty sure going forward you will see the expectations come good with performances that you have seen from him in the past."
The other issue the team think-tank has to look into is with India having a busy schedule over the next year, how would they manage the workload factor, especially of their bowling spearhead Jasprit Bumrah. However, in overcast conditions, it would not be a wise decision to rest him as yet, as he can win the game for his team single-handedly.
Despite the gloomy conditions, there is good news for the spectators. The Green Park curator Shiv Kumar feels that the surface would have something for everyone. He expects the pacers to get some early advantage and also believes the batters will love batting on the opening two days. Post that, he expects the spinners to take control and make an impact.
With uncertain weather and a determined Bangladeshi team to tackle, India will have their job cut out over the next five days to tame the Bangla Tigers again and make their position strong in the race to the WTC final at Lord's in early June by remaining firmly on top of the Test rankings.
