Bengaluru: The Indian management is leaving no stone unturned as they have reportedly hired 13-15 ‘high quality’ net bowlers at the ongoing preparatory camp in Alur ahead of the Asia Cup 2023. The Indian batting has been one of the talking points recently after their lackluster show in the Caribbean both in ODIs and T20Is.
That was more so because injuries to KL Rahul and Shreyas Iyer forced the management to try different combinations, which ultimately failed. However, with both players returning from injury, things have started to look good for the Indian team with the players currently doing match simulation in the preparatory camp ahead of the Asia Cup that starts later in the month.
Based on a Star Sports report, a plethora of Indian Premier League stars are throwing down at the Indian batters in the match simulation, something that was unseen before.
Apart from the likes of Jasprit Bumrah, Prasidh Krishna, Mohammed Shami and Mohammed Siraj, who are in India’s Asia Cup squad, the BCCI has also hired Aniket Chowdhury, Kuldeep Sen, Umran Malik, Sai Kishore, Yash Dayal, Rahul Chahar and Tushar Deshpande among few IPL stars who are preparing the batters ahead of the continental showpiece.
Notably, Deshpande was Chennai Super Kings’s highest wicket-taker in IPL 2023 with 21 scalps from 16 matches and played a big role in CSK’s title-winning campaign. The development comes after India captain Rohit Sharma admitted that pace will play a big part for India in the Asia Cup and ICC World Cup at home.
Former India batting coach Sanjay Bangar opined that it’s a win-win for all (India and domestic players). “It an off-season in the BCCI domestic circuit and the availability of these players was easy. The Indian management is making the right use of these bowlers. For these domestic bowlers, it helps them to bowl at some of the best batters in the country,” Bangar said.
It is understood that batters are coming to bat in pairs with Shubman Gil and Rohit Sharma coming as openers. Then Virat Kohli and Iyer came, giving a hint at India’s top four. Iyer, as Rohit said, has been passed fit by the NCA doctors and is really looking good.
The main talking point will be Rahul, who is carrying a small niggle that he got a few days ago. Although it is nothing major, reports suggest that he may miss a few initial matches in the Asia Cup 2023. That means Rahul will miss the Asia Cup 2023 opener against Pakistan on September 2. Ishan Kishan becomes an automatic choice in the absence of Rahul.
The Star Sports report also suggests that Kishan did wicketkeeping practice in Alur on Friday while Rahul was seen warming up a bit before heading to the batting nets.
