<p>The gangling medium-fast bowler from Gujarat was reduced to a spectator as his team-mates, including Test arrivals from home notably Rahul Dravid, VVS Laxman and Mahendra Singh Dhoni, put themselves to a vigorous work-out yesterday.<br /><br />Coach Duncan Fletcher has refused to shed light on the reason for Patel's inactivity in the last two team sessions, as well as on missing out on the final one-day international here on Thursday.<br /><br />The only word the Zimbabwe-born coach has said is that "Patel should be fit for selection for the Test."<br /><br />Patel was hugely impressive in India's World Cup campaign as well as in the one-day series here where he picked up eight wickets from three matches at 17.75 average.<br />However, he has not played a Test for India for over two years now and if the trend continues it would most likely pave the way for Praveen Kumar's inclusion in the Test team.<br /><br />In the practice session, coach Fletcher appeared keen to pick up the brains of Dravid and Dhoni.<br /><br />Fletcher had said earlier that he was looking forward to learning from men with such wealth of experience.<br /><br />Dhoni was among the early bats to pad up but then sat in the shade for long while others took their turn under a scorching sun. The arriving Test specialists were impressively intense even though it has been less than 24 hours since they landed in the Caribbeans.<br /><br />Openers Murali Vijay and Abhinav Mukund, particularly the former, spent a long time in the nets against both spinners and pacers alike.<br /><br />The hosts, on their part, afforded good net bowlers to the visitors as all Indian batsmen had an extensive work-out.<br /><br />VVS Laxman was the centre of attraction with his graceful strokes, while Vijay made some rasping drives.<br /><br />Later Dhoni, alongwith the spin cordon of Suresh Raina and Virat Kohli latched on to some sharp catching practice organised by fielding coach Trevor Penny.<br /><br />Bowling coach Eric Simmons appears to have taken over the job of former coach Gary Kirsten who threw down countless ball at the batsmen. Simmons gave a good work-out to Raina, Mukund and Laxman with his throw-downs.<br /><br />The first Test starts here next Monday.</p>
<p>The gangling medium-fast bowler from Gujarat was reduced to a spectator as his team-mates, including Test arrivals from home notably Rahul Dravid, VVS Laxman and Mahendra Singh Dhoni, put themselves to a vigorous work-out yesterday.<br /><br />Coach Duncan Fletcher has refused to shed light on the reason for Patel's inactivity in the last two team sessions, as well as on missing out on the final one-day international here on Thursday.<br /><br />The only word the Zimbabwe-born coach has said is that "Patel should be fit for selection for the Test."<br /><br />Patel was hugely impressive in India's World Cup campaign as well as in the one-day series here where he picked up eight wickets from three matches at 17.75 average.<br />However, he has not played a Test for India for over two years now and if the trend continues it would most likely pave the way for Praveen Kumar's inclusion in the Test team.<br /><br />In the practice session, coach Fletcher appeared keen to pick up the brains of Dravid and Dhoni.<br /><br />Fletcher had said earlier that he was looking forward to learning from men with such wealth of experience.<br /><br />Dhoni was among the early bats to pad up but then sat in the shade for long while others took their turn under a scorching sun. The arriving Test specialists were impressively intense even though it has been less than 24 hours since they landed in the Caribbeans.<br /><br />Openers Murali Vijay and Abhinav Mukund, particularly the former, spent a long time in the nets against both spinners and pacers alike.<br /><br />The hosts, on their part, afforded good net bowlers to the visitors as all Indian batsmen had an extensive work-out.<br /><br />VVS Laxman was the centre of attraction with his graceful strokes, while Vijay made some rasping drives.<br /><br />Later Dhoni, alongwith the spin cordon of Suresh Raina and Virat Kohli latched on to some sharp catching practice organised by fielding coach Trevor Penny.<br /><br />Bowling coach Eric Simmons appears to have taken over the job of former coach Gary Kirsten who threw down countless ball at the batsmen. Simmons gave a good work-out to Raina, Mukund and Laxman with his throw-downs.<br /><br />The first Test starts here next Monday.</p>