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Ishant, Ranadeb for three-day match

August 02, 2007 19:17 IST

After the crushing victory over England [ Images ] in the second Test, the Indian team decided to take it easy on the eve of their three-day tour match against Sri Lanka [ Images ] 'A', beginning on Friday, in Leicester.

Most of the players stayed away from the two-hour practice session, which was optional for those who played in the Trent Bridge match.

Yuvraj Singh [ Images ], Gautam Gambhir [ Images ], Ishant Sharma [ Images ], Ranadeb Bose, Wasim Jaffer [ Images ] and Ramesh Powar [ Images ] got down to practice as captain Rahul Dravid [ Images ], who arrived for the last hour, checked out the conditions and oversaw the session.

From Left: Ishant Sharma, Ranabed Bose and Venkatesj PrasadBowling coach Venkatesh Prasad and fielding coach Robin Singh put the players through the paces.

Prasad had a long stint with young pacer Sharma, explaining to the Delhi [ Images ] pacer how important it is to bowl a good line and length while making the batsman play as much as possible. He also worked on Sharma's run-up after the youngster kept overstepping the bowling crease.

Bose sent down quite a good spell and Robin Singh time and again applauded his bowling.

Both the bowlers will get a chance to prove themselves against the Sri Lankans, who will be led by Thilan Samaraweera [ Images ]. The squad also boasts of a few Test players in Michael Vandort [ Images ], Kaushal Lokuarachchi and Rangana Herath [ Images ].

Surprisingly, pacer S Sreesanth [ Images ] was missing from the session. The Kerala [ Images ] speedster struggled to find his rhythm in the second Test and a session in the nets may have done him some good.

Pacer Zaheer Khan [ Images ], who has bowled the bulk of the overs in the two Tests, is expected to be rested along with Sachin Tendulkar [ Images ], Sourav Ganguly [ Images ], VVS Laxman [ Images ] and Anil Kumble [ Images ].

The three-day outing provides a good opportunity for the Indians to try out the youngster in the side and also keep the momentum going. A good showing against the Sri Lankans will be a huge boost ahead of the third Test at Oval.

Harish Kotian in Leicester