Prepare to play ugly, Shastri to batsmen

Nottingham, AugUST 16 

India coach Ravi Shastri called on his struggling batsmen to show more discipline and grit when the third Test against England gets underway at Trent Bridge on Saturday. 

“Conditions have been tough right through this series. But that’s where character and discipline come into play. The resolve to know where your off-stump is, leave a lot of balls, be prepared to look ugly and dirty and show some grit,” said Shastri.

“I don’t think it is fair to single out any one player,” he added, when asked about Ajinkya Rahane’s struggles on the tour. “Batsmen from both the teams have struggled. When the occasion demands, it’s a case of mental resolve — how you put mind over matter. Mental discipline will be the key as far as batsmen are concerned in this Test match. Rahane is one of our pillars, and he will remain so.”

Skipper Virat Kohli is near full ffitness ahead of the game as he batted without any discomfort at nets today. Jasprit Bumrah, R Ashwin and Hardik Pandya have already been declared fit for the game. India will be looking to find the optimal combination for the game and the coach admitted that they had made a mistake going with an extra spinner at Lord’s. “In hindsight, picking second spinner was an error. We should have gone with an extra seamer. It might have helped. Then again, you didn’t know how much it would rain, whether the match could go into the final day where just in case a second spinner is needed and the ball starts to turn. Would we have needed him? But in hindsight the way things panned out, the amount it rained, the time we lost, a seamer could have been a better option,” said Shastri.

Stokes not an automatic choice

Ben Stokes is back in England’s squad for his own well-being but the all-rounder is not an automatic choice for the third Test, said coach Trevor Bayliss. — Agencies