The Indian cricket team got down to work soon after landing here on Monday for the short series against Bangladesh, sweating it out in a gruelling two-hour net session at the Sher-e-Bangla Stadium. The side led by Kohli arrived here by a morning flight from Kolkata and they hit the nets at the Stadium in the afternoon. The Indians will take on the hosts in a one off Test starting on Wednesday followed by a three-ODI series.
“Since we arrived today and the boys wanted to practice, it was decided to train at the Sher-e-Bangla Stadium as Bangladesh were training at Fatullah. Tomorrow, we will be training at Fatullah,” BCCI’s administrative manager Biswarup Dey said. Since Fatullah, which is in Narayanganj district, takes about an hour and half to reach from Dhaka city, where the team is staying, it was decided to hit the straps rightaway.
The team manager confirmed that all 14 members are fit and Wriddhiman Saha, who has sustained a hit on the chest during the final training session in Kolkata is absolutely fine and also trained with other members. The Indian team will be concentrating on getting the bowling combination right. While Ishant Sharma, Umesh Yadav, Ravichandran Ashwin and Harbhajan Singh are almost certain to play, it will be upto Kohli and Team Director Ravi Shastri to decide on whether India will go with four or five bowlers. If they go with five bowlers, the toss-up will be between speedster Varun Aaron and leg-spinner Karn Sharma.
‘India need to excute plans well’
Chennai: Glenn McGrath on Monday said that Indian team would need to execute their plans properly during their one-off Test match against Bangladesh on Wednesday. “There is only one Test and they need to play like any other Test. When you play in a Test series you think about the next Test. You do not think about the second or third Test here,” McGrath said.
“They (Indians) must have prepared themselves for the single Test and they need to execute their plans. It is just another Test match,” said McGrath who is currently the coaching director of the MRF Pace Foundation here.
The Bangladesh tour, which also features three ODIs, will see Ravi Shastri once again donning the role of Team Director. The former India captain has said India doesn’t need a head coach now and he might fill up the role if needed. Asked to define the role of a chief coach and a team director, McGrath said: “I do not know what Ravi is doing is different to what a team coach will do. I do not know what the job description is for Ravi. If he is not, then I do not know again.”