India unleashed a surprise element in their optional net session at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata on Tuesday, calling a rare bowler to help the batters prepare for South Africa’s spin challenge.
The move came just days after the Eden Gardens blow, where concerns around handling quality spin resurfaced.
According to a PTI report, India held a match simulation in Kolkata to help batters prepare for the threat of off-spinner Simon Harmer, who claimed four wickets in each innings of the series opener, and left-arm spinner Keshav Maharaj. During the session, unheralded Bengal ambidextrous spinner Kaushik Maity was brought in as a nets option, doubling up for both roles during the optional practice.
The 26-year-old, who has represented Bengal in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy and also appeared in IPL trials for Rajasthan Royals, bowled both off-breaks to left-handers Sai Sudharsan, Washington Sundar, Ravindra Jadeja and Devdutt Padikkal and left-arm spin to Dhruv Jurel, the only right-handed batter present.
“It was my first time at the India nets although I have bowled in the IPL nets of various franchises during games at Eden Gardens. Today I bowled off-break to Sai Sudharsan, Washington Sundar, Ravindra Jadeja and Devdutt Padikkal. To Dhruv Jurel, I bowled left-arm spin,” said Maity.
The bowler revealed that he received no bowling instructions from India’s head coach, Gautam Gambhir, or bowling coach, Morne Morkel. Maity, who has played eight List A and three T20 games for Bengal, simply relied on his natural variations and stock deliveries, relishing the rare chance to bowl to elite-level batters.
“I concentrated on what I wanted to bowl and neither the Indian players nor coaches asked me to bowl in any specific area. It was a learning experience for me bowling to world-class players,” he added.
Maity, who will be aiming for an IPL contract at the upcoming auction, said it was a dream moment to bowl to Ravindra Jadeja, who, in turn, offered him a valuable piece of advice.
“It was a dream come true to be able to bowl to Jaddu bhai (Ravindra Jadeja) and also get some doubts cleared,” he said.
“Jaddu bhai, after batting against me, observed that my natural length is around 4m to 5m. He said that I need to push back my length by a metre (6 to 7m) and fire it in quicker, giving batters less time to respond,” Maity elaborated.