Team India players are working hard ahead of the second Test of the five-match series against England. The focus is mainly on the bowling attack that couldn't pick 20 wickets, even with Jasprit Bumrah in great form. Ahead of the second Test, the Indian fast bowlers were seen training with two-coloured (red and white) balls, and that drew plenty of attention from the outside. Bumrah was also seen holding the red and white ball in the nets alongside the rest of the pace battery.
Indian bowlers had a lengthy white-ball stint ahead of the England tour
Interestingly, it is a common practice to use multi-coloured balls in the net sessions. It is done to eliminate the white-ball tendencies from the red-ball game. The Indian bowlers arrived in England on the back of a long Indian Premier League (IPL) season and had also played the Champions Trophy before the T20 extravaganza.
India's assistant coach Ryan ten Doeschate made it clear that the two-coloured balls are being employed in the nets to remove the white-ball habits. "It's not a new thing. All the ball manufacturers make those balls. We talk about detoxing the bowlers, just getting the very basics right. And that's the easiest way to give you an indication. Guys have come out of a long IPL season and the filthy habits of that cricket.
"We don't want that creeping into Test cricket. So Morne (Morkel) and the bowlers just use that tool to make sure the basic fundamentals are in place. We've been using it for the last two weeks," he said in the press conference on Monday (June 30).
Indian bowlers used multi-coloured balls before the first Test
Interestingly, the Indian camp has employed this method ever since they landed in the UK. Even before the first Test, they tried to eliminate the white-ball tendencies, but performance-wise, apart from Bumrah, none of the bowlers stepped up when needed. The fast bowling attack comprising Prasidh Krishna, Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj and Shardul Thakur failed to defend 371 runs in the fourth innings to concede 0-1 in the five-match series. With suspense over Bumrah's inclusion for the Edgbaston Test, it remains to be seen if India will be able to pick 20 wickets.
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