Skipper Virat Kohli turns coach to assist Mayank Agarwal in nets

Mayank Agarwal and Virat Kohli

Around 45 minutes into India's training session, head coach Ravi Shastri and bowling coach Bharat Arun had to rush back to the Sydney Cricket Ground dressing room. News had arrived at the nets session that India had suffered a dramatic batting collapse. It was then that Virat Kohli almost took over as the nets coach.

Earlier, Kohli had batted for close to half an hour after opting not to play in the tour match. During his stint the Indian skipper was very vocal, offering plenty of advice and tips to the likes of Kuldeep Yadav. 'Thoda fast daal sakta hain,' he said a couple of times before facing the quicker bowlers with the new pink ball. Satisfied with his own hit-out, Kohli shifted his attention to Mayank Agarwal.

Agarwal was caught behind trying to defend a ball that was chest high on the line of sixth stump. In his first long chat with Agarwal, Kohli gestured to the opener that a ball on that length could easily have been left alone. The India captain showed Agarwal how to combat such deliveries by shadowing a few 'leaves.' The key factor Kohli seemed to imply was for Agarwal to raise his hands high.

It was then Agarwal's turn to rehearse letting the ball go to the 'keeper. After several minutes, Kohli also asked him to verify his head position. For the next 10 minutes, India's throw down specialists replicated the ball that dismissed Agarwal. Observing from the bowling end, Kohli praised Agarwal and even threw a few balls himself. "You want some more?" Kohli asked before moving to the adjacent net to watch Agarwal's footwork from side-on.

After a couple of balls, Kohli could be heard saying "[I] feel the back toe is raised." Kohli had realised in Agarwal's dismissal that both his feet were off the ground as he tried to play the rising ball. After yet another brief session, Agarwal walked out and had another chat with the Indian captain.

From observing the net
session it seemed like Kohli wanted Agarwal to be slightly more open-chested and wanted his head to be slightly more towards the bowler. These two modifications would allow Agarwal's hands to stay closer to his body, hence making it easier to shoulder arms and at the same time not be lured to push at a ball outside his right eye line. Agarwal will get another chance on Saturday to rectify his mistake and one can be assured that Kohli will be watching him closely.

Thakur, Natarajan, Tyagi, Sundar stay back
The Indian team management has decided that Shardul Thakur, T Natarajan, Karthik Tyagi and Washington Sundar will stay back in Australia along with the rest of the Test squad. It is learnt that the team management opted to keep Sundar back so that the Indian batsmen can face an off-spinner in the nets to prepare for Nathan Lyon. The decision to keep the bowlers in Australia is because local net bowlers are not permitted due to COVID-19 protocols.

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