India v Pakistan: Virat Kohli works on the left angle

BIRMINGHAM: As 18,540 people watched the rain repeatedly upset calculations in the Australia-New Zealand game before forcing a final abandonment here on Friday, the Edgbaston indoor nets was witness to the really unique sight of Ravindra Jadeja indulging in some left-arm seam bowling to captain Virat Kohli. India are keeping their fingers crossed that the weather will hold come Sunday, but it seems a vain hope.
For the moment, though, their plans seem to revolve entirely around negating Pakistan's potentially incendiary brand of left-arm pace bowling.With Wahab Riaz, Junaid Khan and the redoubtable Mohammad Amir all possible run-ins for a slot in the XI, India, and Kohli in particular, are going all out to brush their skills against that particular angle.
It wasn't just Jadeja who transmutated from left-arm orthodox to leftarm seam. MS Dhoni had a change of role too, operating as a sidearm thrower with his left arm for quite a while as Kohli got a feel of the angle. Should Dhoni ever indulge in a coaching role in the distant future, he will know who to thank for the initiation. Coach Anil Kumble too did left-handed sidearm duty for Kohli along with fielding coach R Sridhar.
The good news for the moment is that India's batting lineup, much like its pace armoury, is stocked up on quality options. With the pacers - the exception was Jasprit Bumrah - keeping to the hotel, it was time to focus on the batting. Dinesh Karthik, having had two good two practice games under belt, got another extended hit, as did Yuvraj Singh, Rohit Sharma and Ajinkya Rahane. India's problem areas lie with which pacer to leave out among Bumrah, Umesh, Bhuvneshwar and Shami if they are playing both spinners in Jadeja and Ashwin like last time.
Rain might necessitate some last minute change of plan, and in that case playing both spinners might be fraught with risk. Interestingly, in the rain-hit 2013 Champions Trophy final against England at the same venue in 2013, India played three pacers (Ishant, Bhuvneshwar and Umesh) and the two spinners in Ashwin and Jadeja. Raina indulged in sixth-bowler duties then, though India have Kedar Jadhav's brand of off-breaks to fall back on this time.
There is a 50% chance of rain come Sunday, and if things go the Australia-New Zealand way, it could complicate things for India in this knockout tournament. Shane Warne has already said rain will have a major say in the Champions Trophy.
Pakistan, incidentally, chose to skip practice altogether on Friday, preferring the serenity of the team hotel to the bleak English weather.