Washington back in nets, Bumrah to join India camp

Fit-again Washington Sundar trained hard during India’s afternoon net session in Delhi ahead of the Afghanistan series. Jasprit Bumrah and Nitish Reddy will join the team on Friday, while pace-bowling coach Morne Morkel remains absent due to visa renewal

New Delhi: A fit-again Washington Sundar slogged hard at the Indian team’s afternoon net session on Thursday as the team management awaited the arrival of Jasprit Bumrah and Nitish Reddy ahead of the three-match away series against Afghanistan, starting Sunday.

With Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Ishan Kishan and Tilak Varma finishing their Duleep Trophy final assignment in Chennai on Thursday, only 10 players were available for training under the scorching Delhi heat.

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Bumrah, who has recovered from his impact injury, has completed his return-to-play protocols and, along with Nitish, will join the team in training from Friday.

On the day, Washington and Varun Chakravarthy bowled a lot in single-wicket drills under the watchful eyes of head coach Gautam Gambhir and spin-bowling coach Sairaj Bahutule.

While Washington bowled well within himself at the centre nets (inside the main ground), he was very scratchy while facing the net bowlers picked from age-group and DPL teams. The timing wasn’t there and he distinctly lacked fluency.

Harshit Rana’s replacement, Yash Thakur, also sweated it out practising spot bowling.

At the Feroz Shah Kotla B nets, Sanju Samson and Abhishek Sharma took turns facing Axar Patel and Ravi Bishnoi.

During the 45-minute session, Abhishek did look more comfortable as he attacked both the spinners and Delhi off-spinner Hrithik Shokeen.

Bowling coach Morne Morkel absent:

The notable absentee on the day was Team India pace-bowling coach Morne Morkel, who had gone back home from Sri Lanka.

“Morne’s work visa had expired. He had to go back to South Africa for renewal of his work visa. We are expecting his arrival in the next few days,” a BCCI source told PTI on condition of anonymity.

BCCI set to remove physio Kamlesh:

The BCCI is all set to remove senior Team India physio Kamlesh Jain, a result of the spate of injuries over the past six to eight months, which has massively affected the team’s planning.

“Kamlesh is on notice period. Since this is the Asian Games squad that is playing Afghanistan series, the physio and S&C coaches are the ones who will be travelling to Japan,” a BCCI source told PTI.

It is understood that with the national selectors and head coach Gautam Gambhir worried over the frequent breakdown of key players, someone from the sports science team had to take the fall.

Jain, being the physio, has been on the firing line for some time now.