Being an optional practice session, it wasn’t a full strength Indian team that hit the nets on a cloudy afternoon at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata. Captain Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane, Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan and Wriddhiman Saha were among the few who got a feel of the bat spending some time in the nets. Amit Mishra went through his bowling drills and had new entrant in the squad Jayant Yadav for company. Yadav was seen taking keen interest in the nets observing Mishra and having a bowl himself. Though Yadav might not necessarily get a place in the eleven, he was sure that this stint with the team will do him a world of good. “The mood in the camp is pretty relaxed and I am relishing this stint with the Test team. I am looking forward to the first full practice session tomorrow and I am sure it is going to be exciting,” Yadav told BCCI.TV. Yadav is coming off a decent performance on India A's recent tour of Australia, picking up seven wickets in the unofficial Tests at an average of 22.57. More than the numbers, Yadav believed the Australia ‘A’ tour has taught him a lot. “I think Australia poses a different set of challenges as a spinner. Playing in the subcontinent and playing abroad is a different role altogether. For a finger spinner in Australia the margin for error is really less. Your roles change within the team and you have to adapt quickly. “What I felt was the need for the finger spinner to vary the pace time and again. You have to be a bit quicker in the air in the subcontinent whereas in Australia you can utilise the bounce and bowl a bit slower. Over here you have to vary the pace with your stock ball and margin for error is more as compared to that in Australia. In those aspects, it was a great learning curve and a learning experience. My role as a spinner in Australia was different to a role to a spinner in India. You get to learn a lot and you have to take everything in your stride and keep learning and implementing the learning in your game.”

Talking about finger spinners, who better than Ravichandran Ashwin to have by your side to explain the nuances of spin bowling? Yadav was sure he would have a lot to talk about with him in the nets on Thursday. “I would want to observe his practice regimes, his preparations. Rather than getting into the technicalities I would want to know how he reads the batsmen and what is his mindset approaching certain situations which are essentially important in the Test level. I would want to know how he assesses the wickets, gauges the batsman, how he imparts a lot of spin on the ball and how he prepares for different wickets.”

When asked about what he particularly liked about Ashwin’s spin bowling he said, “On any sort of wicket, you have to be very consistent and obviously Ashwin has that ability to keep bowling in a same line for long periods of time. He tires the batsman down by bowling good balls and chipping away on their patience.”

Yadav was also seen closely chatting with coach Anil Kumble and together they were seen working on ‘finishing’ the action better as Yadav puts it, “We were just chatting about me finishing better. It is always important when you are working on a particular thing to go backwards - bowling with few steps so that you can focus more on what you are trying to work on. We were just talking about the non bowling arm and how I can finish better. It was just a simple drill. I will try and implicate that on the nets tomorrow.”

Yadav was also confident he was in a good space at the moment and will look to improve from here on. “I had a good tour of Australia, the conditions were different but the ball is coming off my hand very nicely and I am bowling in the right areas and channels. Test cricket is all about you mental aptitude. It is a test of your character, courage and perseverance. Going forward, I want to learn as much as I can and impart them in my bowling.”