Team India pacers gear up with Speed Shotgun

Team India has a hectic schedule ahead. They are lined up to play 5 Test matches in February and March this year. They will play a one-off Test against Bangladesh starting on February 9. The series will be followed by a long 4-match Test series against Australia. While the Bangladeshi lineup does not boast of express pace bowlers, the Australian side has a plethora of pacers who can clock high speeds. They will be spearheaded by Mitchell Starc.

The Indian team is very well aware of this fact and hence have started off their preparations against the express pace. The new equipment that the team India were seen using in Hyderabad during their practice session was ‘speed shotgun’. It is a machine that is aimed at the pitch from behind the stumps. As the bowlers comes into bowl the speed shotgun tracks the speed of the ball as soon as it hits the pitch.

As per the quotes in Cricketnext, the team management confirmed that team India were using the technology available. “Yes, it was used during training on Monday to assess the pace at which the Indian bowlers were bowling,” said a team management member. Head coach Anil Kumble used the technology with the spinners as well. He wanted to see how the spinners were varying their pace and trajectory.

The Indian skipper Virat Kohli, in the meantime, was seen practicing against the short delivery. In the recent times, Virat has had his share of problems against the shorter stuff. During the recently concluded series against England, Kohli was dismissed to short deliveries on a couple of occasions. His attempted pull shots did not come up well enough and he had to make the long walk back. No wonder why Kohli opted to face short deliveries in the practice sessions. Clearly, the skipper does not want to leave any stone unturned in his preparations.