Major update ahead of ENG vs IND 2nd Test: 4 key players absent from practice

An optional practice day ahead of the 2nd Test in Edgbaston. Multiple players skipped the practice to cool down. According to media reports, the team management of India marked Saturday (June 28) as the optional practice day for the squad in England.

Thus, some of the key players of the setup did not come to the ground for training. Captain Shubman Gill, vice-captain Rishabh Pant, senior batsman KL, and Yashasvi Jaiswal were reportedly not present during the practice session. Though, other members of the team were there for preparations.

Team India's bowling in the Headingley Test was marked as one of the weak points behind the disappointing result. Apart from Jasprit Bumrah, other bowlers in the line-up—Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, and Shardul Thakur—were unable to back Bumrah enough, according to multiple cricket experts observations.

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Bowlers resumes bowling in net after batting and fielding drills

Preliminary, the pacers were present during the practice, investing most of their time in maintaining fitness and polishing fielding skills. But on Saturday, all of them sweated in the net while bowling. Apart from bowling and fielding drills, assistant coach Ryan Ten Doeschate supervised their batting also. 

In the previous match, India repeatedly suffered due to batting collapses when tail-enders went to perform with bats. It is still unknown whether Bumrah will take part in the second Test or not. But the way he showed dedication in the training session will definitely provide some hope to the Indian cricket fans. Before the second, Gautam Gambhir's coaching staff has to do a lot of repair work in almost every department. Top-order and middle-order batters did well in Leeds, but they eventually fell short of their projected totals because of batting collapses in the lower order. The fielding also caused enough harm for the visiting side. On the bowling side, Krishna and Siraj looked promising but weren't able to take wickets when the team needed them the most.