Anticipating a barrage of short-pitched bowing in the upcoming Test series against England, the Indian batsmen on Thursday devoted time in finding ways to handle the James Anderson-led pace battery even as the tour opens with a three-day game against Somerset from Friday.
With Somerset resting most of their top players, the wicket as flat as they come and rain forecast for the next three days, the Indians are giving it their all during the net sessions.
Gautam Gambhir spent as much time as he could in the nets adjacent to the centre pitch. Coach Duncan Fletcher watched him from the front, then slipped behind the nets and had a few chosen words of advice for the tremendous opener.
Gambhir appeared to practice against deliveries which bounced and left him. Time and again, he hopped on to his back-foot and angled down the bat in the gully area; a strategy to counter Anderson, Chris Tremlett and Stuart Broad - some of the tallest pacemen operating in international cricket.
Sachin Tendulkar preferred to start with throw-downs from fielding coach Trevor Penny. He warmed up and faced up to India's top medium-pacers and then kept at it for a long time.
Somerset would do their own bit to deprive Indians of any worthwhile practice. Captain Marcus Trescothick is away, England's one-day opener-wicketkeeper Craig Kieswetter is unlikely to be around and the only fast bowler of any promise,
Steve Kirby, could be missing.
Left-armers no problem: Strauss
He has been dismissed five times by Zaheer Khan in Test cricket but England captain Andrew Strauss feels there was nothing wrong in his technique, going into the first Test.
Strauss is expected to begin in the visitors' only tour match against Somerset, where he is playing as a guest.
"I've looked at it (technique against left-arm seam) but I don't think there is anything massively wrong," said Strauss.
"You can put yourself into a corner on these things. You have to be clear in your mind that is the right recipe to score run.
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