With Dravid for company,Sharma hits right areas

Coaches Fletcher,Simons and Penny observe the intense one-hour training session.

An engrossing battle unfolded on one of the practice wickets at the Ferozeshah Kotla. Two India teammates – Ishant Sharma and Rahul Dravid indulged in an intense one-hour practice session on Thursday evening. The first Test against the West Indies begins on Sunday but watching Sharma,Dravid sweat it out relentlessly for an hour,this could well have been the morning of the match.

Keeping a close eye on the two were head coach Duncan Fletcher and bowling coach Eric Simons. Fielding coach Trevor Penny too did his bit as he ensured that the intensity of the session never waned. He gave Dravid throw downs when Sharma took a breather.

The agenda of the evening largely revolved around Sharma. The lanky fast bowler is on the comeback trail after recovering from a ligament tear in his left foot and an ankle injury. Sharma will have the added responsibility of leading the young pace attack comprising Umesh Yadav and Varun Aaron,both of whom havent played a Test match yet.

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With the first Test against the West Indies just three days away and Sharma having played only in the North Zone Twenty20 tournament after starting to bowl again three weeks ago,Fletcher and Simons were keen to watch how the 23-year-old medium-pacer performs against Test-level opposition. Dravids no-nonsense approach provided the perfect environment for this bowling clinic.

Making Sharma bowl just short of the drivable length was the collective aim of the men around the pacer. Dravid,in a rich vein of form,enjoyed the upper-hand in the early exchanges. Sharma,it seemed on the day,couldnt find the delivery that would get the nod of approval from the India No.3.

But the latter half of the evening belonged to Sharma. He got the ball to land in line of the off-stump,not on a drivable length the one that coaches were cajoling him to bowl and beat Dravids bat a few times with in-cutters.

Shortly the sequence of events played itself out again. Dravid was soon shaking his head,unhappy with the manner in which he was letting the young fast bowler to breach his defence. Objective fulfilled,the training session was wrapped up. Dravid patted Ishant,while Fletcher nodded and Simons was happy that Ishant was getting it right.

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As Ishant is coming back from injury we were just trying to get him to hit the right areas. This session was all about getting him to find his rhythm again. We have two more days to work towards getting him ready for the first Test, Simons said after the practice session.

In his comeback trail,Sharma has been bowling in the same practice nets against his Delhi team mates.

But it was only on Thursday that he passed his first real test.

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