“I have a soft spot for leg-spinners. In Under-15 cricket, I once fielded a side with four of them,” said Srinivasa Rao, one of Chennai’s most respected coaches. India knew exactly what they required; the Tamil Nadu Cricket Association knew exactly whom to call.
Tuesday evening at the MA Chidambaram Stadium became a trial by spin. With their second Super 8 fixture of the T20 World Cup against Zimbabwe looming on Thursday, India submitted themselves to nearly four hours of deliberate slow-bowling examination. Rao’s boys, alongside India’s own spin arsenal, ensured the batters confronted the very condition that had undone them.
It felt inevitable, perhaps even medicinal.
This batting order, heralded as an invincible juggernaut capable of scaling the 300-run peak in T20s, had been unceremoniously dismantled the moment South Africa took the pace off the ball. Chasing 188 on Sunday, they subsided for a haunting 111. The diagnostic was clear: in Chennai, the test would be one of patience and manufactured power. Could they dominate when the ball refused to come onto the bat?
All 14 available squad members trained. Only Rinku Singh was absent, having flown home due to a family emergency. The intensity was unmistakable. While the arithmetic of semi-final permutations swirled in the outside world, India’s interior world at Chepauk was one of clinical execution—refining match-ups and auditioning roles should Rinku remain unavailable for Thursday’s fixture.
Training began around 6pm. A gentle February evening settled over Chennai. The sun dipped behind the stands; birds drifted overhead. Beyond the ground, water slapped rhythmically in the swimming pool at the venue as local athletes trained, the sound carrying into the open stadium. Calm held Chepauk briefly, like the sea pausing between tides. Then India finished their warm-ups, and the stillness gave way to the sharp, unmistakable crack of bat meeting ball.
Zimbabwe, who had lost to West Indies in Mumbai on Monday, arrived in Chennai on Tuesday but chose not to train. Chepauk belonged entirely to India.
ABHISHEK JOINS THE SPIN-BOWLING GROUP
The first group walked in.
Tilak Varma and Suryakumar Yadav took one net.
Ishan Kishan and Sanju Samson the other.
Abhishek Sharma was not among the batters. He had the ball in hand.
In a week when batting positions had been dissected endlessly, his absence from the first lot carried its own quiet intrigue. But this was not new. Throughout this World Cup, Abhishek has eased into sessions by rolling his arm over first, entering the rhythm of training before stepping into the scrutiny that awaits him with the bat.
Three ducks and a laboured 14 had shaped his tournament so far. His routine, however, has remained unchanged. Until recently, it appeared a straight Samson-versus-Abhishek call. Rinku’s absence, however, has altered the arithmetic; against Zimbabwe, there may be room for both against Zimbabwe on Thursday.
Abhishek bowled his full quota before even considering the pads. He joined a spin core of Axar Patel, carrying the quiet steel of a man controversially benched, Varun Chakravarthy, Kuldeep Yadav, and Washington Sundar.
India’s finest spinners bowled to two of their finest players of spin — Tilak Varma and Suryakumar Yadav. This was no simulation. It was India testing India at full strength.
SURYAKUMAR SOLID AGAINST SPIN
Suryakumar imposed himself immediately. He swept Kuldeep with authority, advanced without hesitation and struck straight. Their duel unfolded in cycles, pressure shifting delivery by delivery, like waves advancing and retreating along Marina Beach. Suryakumar dictated whenever length allowed, but Kuldeep resisted, forcing hesitation, reclaiming control, refusing to disappear beneath the assault.
Tilak moved differently. There was urgency in his approach. Varun, still carrying the weight of Ahmedabad, searched for his release point. For nearly 30 minutes, he adjusted, recalibrated, reacquainted himself with familiar conditions.
Tilak offered no relief.
Criticism of his middle-overs tempo had followed him here. His response was decisive. He drove down the ground, pulled through mid-wicket and refused containment. Each clean strike travelled with intent, forcing Varun to confront the same questions again and again.
Washington repeated his actions with precision. Abhishek bowled with purpose. Axar’s presence remained steady, his rhythm uninterrupted, his execution controlled.
DID SAMSON FIND FLUENCY?
In the adjacent net, pace took over. Mohammad Siraj and Arshdeep Singh, supported by local medium pacers, challenged Ishan Kishan and Sanju Samson.
The difference revealed itself quickly.
Ishan attacked without restraint. His bat moved with violence, each strike carrying the residue of dismissal and response. Siraj and Arshdeep tested him repeatedly; he answered by accelerating further, refusing retreat.
When Sanju Samson took his turn, however, the rhythm faltered. He looked like that one solitary wave that promises to demolish a sandcastle, only to lose its teeth and fizzle out before reaching the shore. The intent was there, but the execution was scratchy; Arshdeep’s left-arm angle frequently found Samson’s footwork lacking.
After more than an hour, the groups exchanged roles.
Against spin, Ishan became even more dangerous. Warnings spread quickly from those inside the nets to those beyond them. The ball travelled hard and often, forcing anyone near the ropes to remain alert.
Samson stabilised. Against Varun, Washington, Kuldeep and Axar, his movements grew clearer, his timing cleaner. The hesitation that marked his pace session loosened. Batting coach Sitanshu Kotak watched closely, tracking restoration rather than searching for it.
WHEN ABHISHEK FINALLY BATTED
India’s training sessions usually maintain strict separation between spin and pace. Here, that distinction disappeared. Spin took over both nets, consuming the evening entirely, like a tide swallowing shoreline inch by inch.
Abhishek then walked in to bat.
The diet plan was strictly enforced. There was no pace on offer. Siraj and Arshdeep had finished their chores. Instead, he was fed a relentless stream of Rao’s off-spinners turning the ball away. Medium pacers reduced their speeds, stripping away momentum.
It was a mirror of the South African trap. The secret is out: Abhishek thrives on the adrenaline of pace but stutters when asked to generate his own momentum against the turning ball.
He responded with surprising poise. There was a fluid balance to his movements that betrayed his lean scorecard. He trusted his shape, absorbed the pressure, and waited. From the boundary, he looked less like a man searching for form and more like a man who had rediscovered it.
This is why the management persists. They see restoration forming before it becomes visible in numbers.
As the jumbo session reached its crescendo, Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, and Axar Patel focused on the death overs. Axar was the standout, striking the ball with a clinical, unhurried authority. If Samson returns to the top of the order against Zimbabwe, Tilak will likely float, leaving Axar to join the finishers. His preparation reflected ownership of that responsibility. On this evidence, he is more than ready.
AN ARSHDEEP CAMEO
The evening’s most joyous cameo, however, came from Arshdeep Singh. Granted an extended stay with the bat, he transformed into a middle-order marauder. Even as the nets were being dismantled, he begged for more, tonking deliveries toward the media box and sending ball boys on long, coastal treks.
The night ended with a moment of levity. Abhishek, Ishan, and Suryakumar—the specialist batters—all rolled their arms over, using a ball bucket as a makeshift stump. Their target? Mohammad Siraj, who spent the final moments of the session stoically defending his wicket.
India arrived in Chennai under a cloud of scrutiny. They left the turf having stared their weaknesses in the face, finding their rhythm in the city where the land meets the sea.
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