The Indian pace attack, practising with two-coloured balls to shed the "filthy" habits of white-ball cricket, drew plenty of attention at the penultimate net session ahead of the second Test against England at Edgbaston.
Jasprit Bumrah was seen holding a red and white ball at the start of the session and so were the other members of the Indian pace battery.
It is common practice to use multi coloured balls and to be specific, the Indian pacers have been using them since the start of the English summer.
One reason for it is that the fast bowlers arrived in England after a lengthy white-ball stint, including the Champions Trophy and the subsequent Indian Premier League.
India assistant coach Ryan ten Doeschate said training with the two-coloured balls helps in eliminating white ball tendencies from the red ball game.
"It's not a new thing. All the ball manufacturers make those balls. We talk about detoxing the bowlers, just getting the very basics right. And that's the easiest way to give you an indication. Guys have come out of a long IPL season and the filthy habits of that cricket.
"We don't want that creeping into Test cricket. So Morne (Morkel) and the bowlers just use that tool just to make sure the basic fundamentals are in place. We've been using it for the last two weeks," said Doeschate.
Home hero Moeen Ali checks in at England training
Former England all-rounder Moeen Ali made a surprise visit to the host's net session at his home ground here on Monday.
England are banking on Ali's knowledge of Edgbaston where the pitch is expected to be full of runs and aid spinners day three onwards.
Head coach Brendon McCullum and spin bowling coach Jeetan Patel were seen having a long conversation with Ali.
Sources told PTI that Ali was at the venue only for the day and is not getting into a long term coaching role with the team.
Having retired from the highest level, Ali plies his trade in T20 leagues around the world and was also part of IPL 2025.
England captain Ben Stokes had forced Ali to reverse his Test retirement for an Ashes comeback couple of years ago. On Monday, he was there was for his former captain once again.
