Parthiv is experienced: Kumble

“Parthiv has been really consistent both with his keeping as well as his batting. That’s why Parthiv was chosen. Rishabh has certainly shown the exuberance a young cricketer can bring in. He has shown a lot of batting skills. He has obviously got a lot of runs in domestic cricket. But Parthiv was chosen for his keeping skills and his experience,” Kumble said, giving a peek into his thought process on Patel’s selection. The coach also made it clear that Wriddhiman Saha, who is a few notches above his peers in terms of glove-work, still remains the first-choice keeper of the Test team which may well mean that Mohali will be only chance for Parthiv to prove himself. 

“I think it’s unfortunate that Saha is missing out in this Test match. He suffered a strain on the final day of the Test match. We wanted him to play. He was obviously in the starting the line-up but yesterday’s scans showed there was a little bit of tendonitis. That’s why it was better that we gave him a break from this Test match,” Kumble briefed about the No, 1 keeper’s injury. Parthiv expectedly spent more time than others at the optional net session which was attended by the likes of skipper Virat Kohli, R Ashwin and Mohammed Shami. He did separate routines to hone his glove-work under the watchful eyes of fielding coach R Sridhar. 

At first, it was flat catches as Sridhar hit the tennis balls. A few popped out of his gloves as the routine went for around 15 minutes. Post that, Parthiv did two different drills specific to keeping against spinners. Sridhar, who was a left-arm spinner during his playing days, was seen bowling to single stump as one of the support staff did shadow batting. Sridhar was replicating for Ravindra Jadeja with support staff taking a left-handed stance. He then had a bat at the nets alongside Karun Nair before again coming back for his second set of keeping drills. This time it was Sanjay Bangar standing from 10 yards firing the balls with Sridhar trying to edge. The idea was to latch onto the fast nicks off the spinners. Knowing fully well that he will have to forego his place the moment Saha gets fit, Parthiv will go for broke as this could well be his last chance for international redemption.

India coach Anil Kumble categorically dismissed allegations of ball tampering levelled against skipper Virat Kohli by the British media, stating that he does not believe in “giving wind to such stories”.

A British tabloid published footages of Kohli applying saliva to the ball during the first Test against England at Rajkot. However, there were no complains made by the visiting team or the match referee to the ICC within a window of five days, which is a must as per world cricket’s governing body’s clause. The ICC has already said that it will not make any investigations as per rules. “First of all, I don’t want to react to any report that is there in the media. As far as I am concerned, neither the umpire nor the match referee ever came to us talking about it. We would certainly not like to give too much wind to the story,” Kumble said, clarifying his and the team’s stand in the matter. The legendary spinner said that he was not at all perturbed by what the British media has reported. “There is nothing to worry about. People can allege and write whatever they want in the media. As far as we are concerned, none of our players were a part of such activity.” But in a veiled dig, Kumble also drew comparisons with the Faf du Plessis incident in Hobart.  “It is very silly. It’s making a mountain out of a molehill.”