BGT, IND vs AUS – Rohit Sharma, Akash Deep take blows in MCG nets, but ‘no major concerns’

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The Indian team management is not concerned about any injury worries to Rohit Sharma after the India captain was struck on the knee during practice at the MCG on Sunday and needed some attention from the physio. Fast bowler Akash Deep also took a blow while batting but later brushed any injury issues for both players aside.

Rohit, who seems to be settling into his middle-order role – he let KL Rahul, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli and Shubman Gill face the new ball in the adjacent nets while he started batting against spin – attempted to play a pull shot but it didn’t come off and the ball cleared the top flap of the pad and hit him on the knee. He needed some treatment – elevating the leg and putting an ice pack on it – and seemed in good order by the time the session was winding up, walking around and having little chats with his team-mates and coaches.

India’s trip to Melbourne has been eventful since their arrival earlier this week. There was a Virat Kohli event at the airport. A misunderstanding about Australian media filming his children on arrival. There was a Ravindra Jadeja event at the MCG. A misunderstanding about taking questions in English. And now a Rohit event at training.

Akash Deep took a hit to the arm while batting and at the press conference on Sunday, he said neither blow was anything to worry about. “Such blows are common when you play cricket,” he said when asked about him and Rohit . “I think this (practice) wicket was for white ball which is why the ball kept low at times. But these blows are common in training. There are no major concerns because of that.”

Rishabh Pant received plenty of attention during India’s first nets session on Saturday, spending nearly an hour talking with head coach Gautam Gambhir several yards away from all the action. Prasidh Krishna, who was initially with the India A team on tour in Australia and later brought into the senior squad ahead of the Perth Test, looked sharp. He had a good outing at the MCG in November, picking up 4 for 50 and 2 for 37 against Australia A.

With the MCG nets offering public vantage points, there were several fans who came around to watch India train. A little girl who kept trying to catch their eye was unimpressed when she wasn’t able to. “If they can’t wave, they can at least smile,” she said.

With the series at 1-1 and considering they haven’t gotten the better of Australian conditions in the first innings, India’s focus was understandably elsewhere. There was a fair bit of green grass on the pitch to be used for the Boxing Day Test, but with it being four days away, it is likely some of it will be shaved off. The MCG has had a drastic change in character since the last time India were here – from batting-friendly to bowling-friendly.

In 2020, they bounced back from a difficult loss in Adelaide, where they were bowled out for 36, with an eight-wicket victory in Melbourne. The next Test match that the MCG hosted saw Scott Boland pick up 6 for 7 as England were knocked out for 68 in the second innings. There has only been one total of 250-plus in the two games held at the venue in this season’s Sheffield Shield.
Akash Deep has had a couple of highs since making the XI in Brisbane. From No. 11, he helped India save the follow-on and belted Pat Cummins for a huge six over wide long-on. “At the time we come in to bat, scoring those 20-30 runs are very important. My mindset is to contribute in whatever way I can and that day my mindset, I didn’t think about saving the follow-on, I just didn’t want to get out. And when you do well from that situation it gives confidence and that’s the confidence that the team was able to see in me and I was really happy.”

Akash Deep had a nice battle with Steven Smith as well, beating his bat on both edges, and receiving praise both on the field and later at his press conference. Despite bowling well, he only got one wicket in that first innings. “At the time, I felt like, the skill with which I bowled, a lot of the times he was getting beaten on the inside edge and the outside edge and I felt that sometimes ‘what is this luck that I have, I can’t get him out’. But then I realised that the wicket is not in our hands. What we have in our hands is just bowling well. Bowling in the right areas.”

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