T20 World Cup | Loud, purposeful and back to their best: India’s Chepauk nets send a message ahead of must-win Zimbabwe clash | Cricket News
Three miniature pop-up nets were mounted parallel to each other. Two had a set of portable plastic stumps apiece; a size four football was placed beneath the third. India’s cricketers, in a straight column, stood crouched. One of the support staff would throw them the ball from a sideways angle. Each time, they had to aim at a different net and hit the object. Hitting the plastic stumps was straightforward, but the football — which kept shifting in the light breeze — was not. It was the cricketing equivalent of hitting a moving target in archery. Shivam Dube completed the treble first, a feat his teammates celebrated by piling over him. Their screams and shrieks sliced the balmy air, the sea breeze ferrying them to Wallajah Road and beyond. In the first practice session after the shuddering defeat in Ahmedabad, India were louder than usual. A few fans lingered on the pavement outside the gate, peeping through a square crack to see if anyone was training at the Muthu Nets. They chanted names into the …
