Breaking News:IND vs SA | T20 World Cup: Sanju Samson to replace Abhishek Sharma? Rinku to bowl? Under the ring of fire, new subplots emerge in India practice– What Just Happened

One of Jasprit Bumrah’s yorkers thrashed into a pair of boots in the training nets of the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Friday, February 20. Morne Morkel, watching closely from behind the nets, nodded in approval — not just at the pace of the ball that was bowled, but also at the trajectory. The ball dipped late. It landed exactly where it was meant to.

By the time Bumrah jogged up to retrieve it, the yorker had split open the pair of expensive sneakers stationed at the other end.

Bumrah did not mind. Neither did Morne.

“I’d buy a new one,” the fast bowler joked.

More than the damaged shoes, what mattered was something else entirely — Bumrah looked in good form. The shoulders were loose. The follow-through was effortless. After constant travel and quick turnarounds, he had found a small pause in the schedule. And it showed.

He bowled no more than 12 deliveries. Drank down a bottle of electrolytes. Rested. Fielding coach T Dilip walked up and discussed fielding positions briefly. It was all calm. Controlled. Tilak Varma was striking the ball cleanly in the adjacent net. For a few minutes, everything felt aligned.

But this was only the practice area outside the main arena.

Inside the stadium, under the circular ring of fire that crowns the Narendra Modi Stadium, another layer of the session was unfolding.

Inside, India began with catching drills. A much-needed one after the Netherlands game.

They finished the group stage as the second-worst catching side, dropping nine chances in total. Under the Ahmedabad floodlights, the emphasis was on getting used to the stadium’s structure. At the Narendra Modi Stadium, when the ball goes up into the sky, it disappears briefly against that bright circular backdrop before dropping sharply.

“Unfortunately, no catch is an easy catch, and the boys are putting the yards in and catching a lot of balls. But that’s definitely one of our key focus points, is to really even go for those 50-50 ones, because we know how that can swing and break the momentum of a batting innings,” Morne Morkel said in the pre-match press conference.

The session was long. Repetitive. Deliberate.

IS SANJU REPLACING ABHISHEK?

After the catching drills came the subplot that drew attention.

Abhishek Sharma did not pad up. Instead, he joined the spin-bowling group and bowled to Hardik Pandya and Suryakumar Yadav on one of the practice strips.

On the other pitch, Sanju Samson and Ishan Kishan had an extended hit against Arshdeep Singh and Shivam Dube.

In previous sessions, Samson’s time in the nets had not been this long. On Friday, it was.

Kishan looked in striking touch, clearing the ropes repeatedly. The sound off his bat was clean. Samson was not far behind, measured at first before opening up.

Could this indicate a rethink? A return to the left-right combination India have preferred in the past?

Nothing was said. But the order of things did not go unnoticed.

SURYAKUMAR, HARDIK BAT WELL

Suryakumar Yadav and Hardik Pandya did not spend much time easing in. From early on, the focus seemed clear — clear the boundary.

Surya brought out the ‘Supla’ against Varun Chakravarthy on multiple occasions, sending the ball over fine leg. Hardik kept looking straight, clearing the ‘V’ and depositing several into the stands. When he connected, the ball travelled comfortably beyond the rope.

There were moments when it did not come off. Hardik sliced a few into the air, the kind that would land at deep point on match day. Most of those came when the ball turned away from him. Abhishek Sharma and Axar Patel found that outside edge more than once.

That is part of these sessions. You try to hit through the line. Some stay down. Some hold their shape. Some do not.

CHANGES IMMINENT IN THE INDIAN TEAM

If the practice session offered clues, Axar Patel’s extended batting stint might have been one.

After Surya and Hardik wrapped up, Axar spent considerable time in the nets. Having been replaced by Washington Sundar in the previous game, the vice-captain looked settled. Compact. Clear in his movements.

RINKU BOWLS ROUND-ARM

Another interesting detail emerged once Arshdeep and Dube were done.

Rinku Singh moved into the fast bowlers’ net and began bowling round-arm spin. The release was lower. The trajectory flatter. The ball skidded on.

It is a variation several teams have used in this tournament. A different angle can disrupt rhythm, especially against tall batters who prefer predictable lengths. Whether India use it against South Africa remains to be seen. But it was tried under the watchful eyes of Gautam Gambhir.

WHERE IS ABHISHEK SHARMA?

By then, nearly an hour and a half had passed. The session had moved through phases. Catching. Power-hitting. Bowling variations. Axar’s long hit. But Abhishek Sharma had still not batted.

The question naturally surfaced — had something shifted? Was there a decision being hinted at?

He walked in late. The first few deliveries were not convincing. A slice here. A mistimed stroke there. The timing was not quite there.

Then he settled.

He stopped trying to muscle every ball. Picked his length earlier. When Mohammed Siraj, Rinku Singh and the net bowlers charged in, Abhishek responded by going through the leg side. The balls he middled travelled well beyond the boundary, some landing deep into the stands.

Before practice, Morne Morkel had addressed the speculation.

“Absolutely no discussion in our team group about that. He is a world-class player. We’re going through a very important phase of the World Cup now, and I’m pretty sure he’s going to deliver. Not just for the team, but also for all the viewers watching the game, because he’s entertaining and we love to see that. He’s hitting the ball well in the nets. It’s just a matter of getting that start and getting his innings going,” Morkel said.

On Friday, it did not look like a batter out of answers. It looked like someone working through them. His feet moved towards the ball. His head was in the right position. Not all of his shots were aimed to the sky. He played along the ground, trying to find different options against the same ball.

One of the more noticeable things was his willingness to stand at the crease, instead of charging at the bowler, which was a prominent part of his arsenal.

If you stood back and watched the full session, nothing felt frantic. There were conversations. Adjustments. Players moving from one net to another. Some tried new things. Some stuck to basics.

Bumrah breaking shoes. Rinku trying round-arm. Axar taking his time. Abhishek walking in late and leaving with a few clean hits behind him. It did not look like a team scrambling. It looked like one aware of what is coming next.

South Africa in the Super 8 will be India’s toughest test so far. But on Friday, under that ring of fire in Ahmedabad, India did not look unsettled. They looked in a good space.

T20 World Cup | T20 World Cup Schedule | T20 World Cup Points Table | T20 World Cup Videos | Cricket News | Live Score

– Ends