India call-up Navdeep Saini and Shardul Thakur to bowl in the nets
Despite losing the series, the visitors don't want to leave any stone unturned in their preparations for the third Test.
Team India has already lost the ongoing three-match Test series against South Africa with one match to go and are starting at whitewash now. They lost the first couple of matches in Cape Town and Centurion despite being in comfortable positions at some stage or the other. The team though doesn’t want to leave any stone unturned for the final Test now. However, they have called up the likes of Navdeep Saini and Shardul Thakur to bowl in the nets ahead of the game in Johannesburg.
While Saini impressed one and all during the recently concluded Ranji Trophy, Thakur is the part of the ODI squad which will join the team soon. The management wants to have a look at young Saini who will bowl at a hostile pace to the Indian batsmen at the nets. Mohammad Siraj, Ankit Rajpoot and Basil Thampi travelled with the side at the onset of the tour but were sent back once the first Test in Cape Town was started.
Both Saini and Shardul will leave for South Africa on Saturday and reach on Sunday which means they can bowl at the nets only for two days with the final Test match commencing on January 24.
Team management complains
The team management has complained that South Africa has deprived them of the quality net bowlers during the practice. So they wanted a couple of pacers to be flown in from India. “The team communicated to the selectors that they were not provided the help of quality net bowlers in South Africa. Hence, the arrangement has been made after the match. There may be just one Test left but the team doesn’t want to leave any stone unturned to better its performance,” a BCCI official told Times of India on Friday.
The official also informed that the team wants to have a look at Saini in the nets. “The decision to send fresh net bowlers was mulled for a week. But the team management insisted on having its own bowlers. Thakur will stay over for the ODIs. As for Saini, his growth has been impressive and the selectors and the team management want to have a look at him in the nets,’ he added.
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