Virat Kohli and other Indian batsmen are said to have focused extensively on practicing against spinners, particularly left-arm bowlers, in preparation for the Champions Trophy final.
On Friday, Indian batters focused on improving their techniques against left-arm and off-spin bowling in preparation for the Champions Trophy final against New Zealand’s Mitchell Santner and Michael Bracewell, scheduled for Sunday. The top and middle-order players practiced against the team’s spin bowlers, including Varun Chakravarthy, Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel, and Ravindra Jadeja, before facing a group of local spinners.
In the last game, New Zealand captain Santner delivered an effective bowling performance with figures of 10 overs, 1 maiden, 41 runs, and 1 wicket, while Bracewell’s bowling was less economical, finishing with 9 overs, 0 maidens, 56 runs, and no wickets.
The New Zealand spin partnership has collectively claimed 13 wickets across four matches.
Rachin Ravindra delivered an impressive performance with his left-arm spin bowling, achieving figures of 1 wicket for 31 runs in 6 overs.
Anticipating that the pitch at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium (DICS) would provide some assistance to spinners, the Indian batsmen aimed to take no chances.
India’s batting coach Sitanshu Kotak mentioned that the pitch at this venue may still provide support for slow bowlers.
“Wickets change a bit obviously, but here it has not changed the tendency much. Our batting has been really good. Secondly, in four matches, batting first or second we got runs from openers and when they didn’t the middle-order gave some runs,” he said.
Kotak mentioned that it was encouraging to see the middle-order batsmen scoring runs during the semifinal game against Australia.
“Till now, there was not much need for power hitting and in the last match it also happened,” he added.
Kotak stated that Indian batsmen have the ability to adjust to any pitch conditions on a particular day.
“Our batters can adjust on any surface. So that is the key. I think we can adjust to the wicket and obviously, if it is a 350 runs kind of wicket, we might go a little hard, obviously, as there will be pace on the wicket and ball comes on.
“But on this kind of a wicket (at the DICS), you try and rotate the strike, and you try to take the game deep and then, try to finish the game if you are chasing or try and set the biggest possible target. I think we have done that pretty well,” he added.
