Just as Sai Sudharsan had gone through his first round of batting practice on one of the centre pitches at the Eden, Gautam Gambhir walked up to him for a few minutes of discussion.
Following a few words of advice from the India head coach, Sudharsan quietly stepped into one of the practice nets and underwent another round of an intense batting session against both quicks and spinners.
Not amongst enough runs lately, the 24-year-old left-hander, having batted at No.3 in all his nine Test innings so far, went through a rigorous session that lasted almost till the end of India’s practice on Tuesday at Eden Gardens, ahead of the opening Test against South Africa that begins on Friday.
Making his Test debut earlier on the England tour, Sudharsan has two 50-plus scores so far. One of his main problems is his inconsistency, while poor shot selection
has also brought an abrupt end to his stay at the crease on quite a few occasions.
In the recent Tests against the West Indies, Sudharsan did bat well in the second Test in New Delhi, hitting his highest score (87) so far in the format in the first innings and 39 in the second. On both occasions, though, he could have avoided the dismissals with better application.
Thereafter, playing for India A in the recent multi-day matches against South Africa A in Bengaluru, Sudharsan aggregated only 84 runs in four innings. On the other hand, keeper-batter Dhruv Jurel, who played in just the second four-day clash, and that too, as a specialist batsman, smashed unbeaten centuries (132 not out and 127 not out) in both innings of that game.
Jurel, who wasn’t present in Tuesday’s optional training session, along with
the likes of Rishabh Pant, Mohammed Siraj and KL Rahul, has certainly put his hand
up for a spot in the XI, given the rhythm he is in. However, the amount of time Sudharsan spent batting at nets on Tuesday – though he didn’t look at his best against spin – hints that the team management does want him to work on his flaws during practice hours.
He seems to have the team management’s backing. It’s still early days in Sudharsan’s Test career, so instilling a sense of security in him and giving him a longer run may enable him to fare better with greater consistency.
The Eden pitch may offer a decent amount of turn for the spinners from the early stages of the Test, implying the task may not be too easy for Sudharsan and his batting colleagues as well against the Proteas spinners. Keeping the current form of left-armer Keshav Maharaj and off-spinner Simon Harmer in mind, even opener Yashasvi Jaiswal and captain Shubman Gill had a fairly long nets session facing Ravindra Jadeja, Washington Sundar and other net bowlers bowling left-arm and off-spin.
Gambhir, with batting coach Sitanshu Kotak and skipper Gill, was seen discussing the pitch with Eden curator Sujan Mukherjee towards the end of India’s training. The Indians, it was learnt, want “a fair amount of turn” from the surface.
“There will be turn on offer, but not massive,” a Cricket Association of Bengal source said about the surface, which may have a bit of bounce too. Regardless of the nature of the wicket, India’s batting group will have to deliver against this potent Proteas bowling attack.