Ind vs WI: It's back to the nets for struggling KL Rahul

KL Rahul and opener-in-waiting Mayank Agarwal practised in the nets for close to an hour before heading back to the dressing room yesterday

While the Indian batsmen dominated Day Two of the first Test against West Indies, opener KL Rahul, who fell for a first over duck on the opening day, got down to business with assistant coach Sanjay Bangar at the nets located outside the Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium here yesterday.

Rahul and opener-in-waiting Mayank Agarwal practised in the nets for close to an hour before heading back to the dressing room. Bangar put them through to an interesting batting drill where two 4x6 inch tiles were placed at the good length spot and the former India all-rounder was seen hitting the ball hard on the tiles. The ball would skid through after landing and the challenge for the batsmen was to middle it. Throw-down specialist Raghu also joined the nets session to provide practice to Rahul and Agarwal.

'Jai Mataji, Bapu'
As Ravindra Jadeja was nearing his maiden Test ton on his home ground yesterday, the locals at the Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium couldn't help chanting, 'Jai Mataji'. After all, they wanted their hero to reach the feat after coming close many times in the past.

The fans also waited at the ground till Jadeja addressed the media conference after the day's play. He was again greeted by chants of 'Jai Mataji' and 'Jai Mataji, Bapu'. He agreed to pose for selfies for some admirers near the media gate. But he left the scene once things got chaotic and when the pushing and shoving began, leaving some fans disappointed. The chants did not stop, though. It can be recalled that Jadeja walked for 13 days [close to 400kms] from Jamnagar to Mata Na Madh on a pilgrimage to seek the blessings of Ashapura Ma.

Scorers injured
The Saurashtra Cricket Association (SCA) was faced with an uncertain situation yesterday morning when their chief scorer Tushar Trivedi and his two trainee scorers, Deshraj Chauhan and Devendra Hirani met with an accident while on their way to the stadium.

While the trainee scorers escaped with minor injuries, veteran Trivedi had to be immediately operated up on for multiple fractures on his left shoulder. According to a SCA official, the car in which the scorers were travelling in, turned turtle. The SCA will bear the medical expenses of Trivedi and his colleagues.

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