India’s bowlers shift focus to Oval clash

Ahead of the World Test Championship final against Australia, which gets underway on June 7 at the Oval, the Indian cricket team is concentrating on increasing workload for the bowlers, who had a lengthy run in the IPL.
In the bowling department, while the likes of Mohammed Siraj, Shardul Thakur, Akshar Patel, Jaydev Unadkat and Umesh Yadav were part of the first batch to travel to England, pace spearhead Mohammad Shami’s departure was delayed as the IPL final in Ahmedabad was moved to the reserve day after incessant rain.
Batting mainstay Virat Kohli was also among the players who left in the first batch along with the Rahul Dravid-led coaching staff. Cheteshwar Pujara, who was in England with the team because he was playing in the county championship for Sussex, joined Kohli in the camp.
Prior to the important final, the Indian team is anticipated to participate in a few practises at the Arundel Castle Cricket Club in Sussex. “The preparation has been good so far. The initial bit was to ease into the practice session but the last two sessions have been pretty happy. I think we pushed them a little bit. Just adding a little bit of workload for the bowlers, just kind of preparing them for the Test match,” said India’s bowling coach Paras Mhambrey in a video released by BCCI.
“(We are) happy with the conditions, I think it is a lovely ground, (it is) kind of what you can expect. The weather is holding up, it has been sunny, a little windy, a little chilly but something that we have to get used to (when) playing in England,” he said.