Legends of Sports

The Indian team woke up on Thursday morning to what was not a very pleasant sight.

Sehwag had his first session of the tour after arriving in England on Wednesday. The Indians were required indoors by a steady drizzle, and Sehwag made a spectacular entrance, parting the finished to enter the fast-bowlers' area. Sehwag settled quickly. He appeared to be picking up both the length and the swing early.

The vital signs were good: Sehwag looks batting-ready; the surgically-repaired shoulder doesn't seem to be worrying him, but his match-fitness needs testing. Gautam Gambhir, who missed the second Test with a injured elbow, looked ready as well. He bantered with Sehwag before requesting, as he usually does, for another batch of throw-downs.

Also asking for a second set was M.S. Dhoni, who scarcely laid a bat on one during his time with the fast-bowlers; he left many, but played and missed a fair few. Zaheer Khan, another Indian cricketer over whom looms the cloud of injury, looked the nearby he has to his usual bowling self since leaving the field at Lord's.