India tour of Australia: Wriddhiman Saha well on road to recovery

Bengaluru, November 19: India's No.1 gloveman in Tests -- Wriddhiman Saha -- is well on road to recovery and was seen training at the team nets in Sydney.

The 36-year-old has been named in India's squad for the four-match Test series which begins at Adelaide on December 17.

The Bengal wicket-keeper damaged both his hamstrings during a short Indian Premier League (IPL) 2020 campaign for Sunrisers Hyderabad.

Though Saha missed the IPL 2020 eliminator as well as the second qualifier, he travelled with the rest of the Indian contingent to Australia and is expected to don the big gloves at Adelaide, provided he is fit.

Rishabh Pant is the only other specialist wicket-keeper in India's Test squad.

The Board of Control for Cricket In India (BCCI) tweeted a video of Saha facing throwdowns at the nets from the Sri Lankan left-arm specialist Nuwan Seneviratne and Indian right-arm bowler Dayananda Garani for a considerable period of time.

Look who is batting in the nets today. Hello @Wriddhipops! 💪 #TeamIndia pic.twitter.com/GEzLKcSdVF

— BCCI (@BCCI) November 18, 2020

The 37-Test veteran looked comfortable during his time at the nets, though PTI news agency reported that both the throwdown specialists did not go full steam at Saha, who is trying to gradually get into the groove after the injury.

Saha's injury has been a subject of debate with critics even questioning BCCI's injury management.

However BCCI President Sourav Ganguly said he was sure of Saha regaining full fitness in time for the pink-ball day/night Test at the Adelaide Oval.

India tour of Australia: Saha expected to play in Adelaide Test

"Wriddhiman (Saha) is travelling to Australia because he will be fit for Tests. He isn't part of the shorter formats. For the entire duration of the IPL, Indian physios and trainers were in Dubai. Indian physio Dr Nitin Patel is managing injuries and monitoring it all," Ganguly told The Week in a recent interview.

Meanwhile, there was good news in the Indian camp with Ishant Sharma making good progress at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bengaluru.

Ishant Sharma starts bowling at NCA

The right-arm fast bowler was seen bowling under the watchful eyes of NCA Director Rahul Dravid and selection committee chief Sunil Joshi.

The 32-year-old was ruled out of IPL 2020 after playing just one game for Delhi Capitals against Sunrisers Hyderabad before a left internal oblique muscle tear ended his campaign prematurely.

After recovering, Ishant has been at the NCA doing his extensive rehabilitation work under Dravid and head physio Ashish Kaushik and is expected to fly to Australia in time for the Adelaide Test.