Reddy for Patel as India look to bounce back?

India's cricket team prepares for the second Test, hinting at lineup changes based on pitch conditions and past performance as they aim for improvement.

Guwahati: KL Rahul, Yashasvi Jaiswal and Washington Sundar lined up first in the nets here on Thursday, indicating that India may not want to tinker with the No. 3 position. B Sai Sudharsan was knocking at the adjacent nets as was Dhruv Jurel, later joined by Rishabh Pant. Nitish Kumar Reddy painted his run-up mark and started gingerly with Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj as Axar Patel slowly slipped into the frame holding a water bottle. These were telling pictures.

Sai Sudharsan. (PTI)

On the evidence of how India went about their batting and bowling drills, expect one bowler to be dropped for the second Test beginning on Saturday. Kuldeep Yadav has been the best spinner, so chances are Patel might have to sit out should India opt for a seam bowling all-rounder. Enter Reddy.

Sudharsan, a specialist batter, is the most obvious choice to replace Gill. He was also later seen shadowing at the pitch being readied for the second Test. Reddy’s return to the scheme of things, however suggests he could bolster the seam bowling strength. The pitch might warrant that.

It’s a red soil track alright, but with a uniform grass cover that should be trimmed in the next 24 hours. There are a few bare spots in front of the popping crease that should keep spinners very interested. The biggest departure from the Kolkata pitch was how this track was being watered and rolled even on Thursday, indicating at an attempt to overcompensate for a Test that didn’t even last three days.

“It should be a good wicket,” said Sitanshu Kotak, India’s batting coach. “It should be 4-5 days of good cricket.”

This was after Kotak had lit a fire by saying that Gautam Gambhir had taken all the blame for the Kolkata pitch, suggesting there was more to the head coach’s bold claim of saying he got what he had sought. “He said that, yes, we asked for it. Because he felt that there should be no blame on the curators or anyone else,” said Kotak. “Definitely, when there is a Test match in India, whether it is England or Australia, any country will play on their strength. For us at home, it’s spin.”

But there has never been any demand for turners, said Kotak. A little bit of turn maybe, but the onus has always been on preparing pitches that last at least four or four-and-a-half days.

“On the first day, on the second day, fast bowlers stay in the game. Even if you look at the Ahmedabad Test, the Delhi Test was a little slow. But otherwise, fast bowlers have always taken wickets,” he said.

It didn’t escape notice how two balls in the first over from Bumrah had scooted off at different heights. That uneven bounce is unlike something you face at the Eden Gardens. But more unexpected was the rapid disintegration of the top soil.

“Now, what actually happened in the last match, after a day, it felt like it was crumbling,” said Kotak. “There was a little bit of soil coming off. You all saw that. That was not expected. Even the curators did not want it. No one wanted it to be like this. From the second day itself, the wicket became too dry. The top layer of the wicket became too dry. And the layer underneath was very hard because there was a lot of rolling.”

It had become a game of luck by then, and India’s batters probably made their case even weaker by not applying themselves. The footwork had to be apt as well, said Kotak. “Defence, probably for me, is not the right word. Your footwork should be good. If you are picking a good length, front, back, step-out, game, if all that is good, then you will do good batting on any wicket on the turning track.”

The temperament was questionable too, something Kotak also indicated at. “When a batsman is going into batting, if we tell him to play aggressive, if we tell him to run fast, that won’t be right. So, we tell the players that you make a plan, take your little time,” he said. “When a person plays aggressively, that is also visible. But, you take your own time. Every player has a certain time. He starts feeling comfortable. I feel on such wickets, you would rather play busy cricket than defensive cricket with correct footwork.”