Ashish Ranjan
Sanju Samson has been sent home because India’s Asia Cup squad no longer requires him. The decision was made by the Indian team administration after KL Rahul joined the squad prior to the Super 4 stage of the tournament.
Samson was selected as Rahul’s reserve because the latter was injured and unable to play in the group-stage matches against Pakistan and Nepal. Rahul, however, recovered and joined the Indian team after the National Academy Cricket Academy in Bengaluru gave him the all-clear.
In his first session with Team India after a lengthy injury layoff, Rahul batted for several hours in Colombo’s indoor nets on Thursday. A few eyebrows were raised when the right-hander failed to preserve wickets. However, this was primarily due to a shortage of space in the indoor net area. There were no injury concerns as he batted with fluidity.
On Friday, Rahul kept wickets for close to 90 minutes under the lights, erasing all doubts about his physical condition. The Indian players were able to train outdoors at the R Premadasa Stadium on Friday, prior to their Super 4 opener against Pakistan on Sunday, because the weather was mostly clear.
Samson, who is not a member of India’s World Cup roster, was reportedly sent home after Rahul rejoined and demonstrated his fitness in the nets.
Bumrah takes Rohit and Kohli; Axat batted for long
Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj, Axar Patel, and others who had missed the optional indoor session on Thursday trained intensively on Friday until the weather permitted. According to Sports Today, Bumrah bowled with all his passion and even defeated Rohit and Kohli a few times.
Shami and Siraj, India’s other two premier pacers, also had a lengthy session. Axar Patel did the same with the bat.
Freelance sports journalist Vimal Kumar reported that India placed special emphasis on providing lower-order batsmen batting practice. Shardul Thakur, Axar, and Bumrah spent considerable time honing their abilities with the batting coach. The inability of India’s bowlers to generate crucial runs at the end of an innings has been a significant topic of discussion in recent months.
Suryakumar Yadav and Tilak Varma, who were not in contention for a berth in the XI, bowled quite a few overs, signaling a shift in attitude within the Indian camp.
Given the threat posed by Pakistani pacesetter Shaheen Shah Afridi, who claimed four wickets in the group stage match against India, a particular emphasis was placed on training against left-arm seamers.
