Eyeing a first-ever Test series win in Australia, India will look to make the most of their only warm-up game beginning in Sydney on Wednesday. Virat Kohli and Co will play Cricket Australia XI in a match that has not been accorded First-Class status, allowing all players of the touring party to participate in the game.
However, there is a possibility that the game could be reduced as heavy downpour is predicted in Sydney over the next 24-36 hours. This is the only practice match for India before the four-Test series starts in Adelaide on December 6.
The Cricket Australia XI will feature players who are inconsequential to the upcoming Test series, barring perhaps D’Arcy Short who was part of the recently concluded T20I series.
Disappointed that India's only pre-test game is no longer a proper first class match against strong opposition. It should be mandatory, even for us in India, to offer the visitors tough opposition in the lead-up.
— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) November 27, 2018
After enjoying a day of rest post the tied T20I series, the Indian players were back in action training hard for nearly three hours on Tuesday to get back into long-form groove.
There were a couple noticeable pointers with Murali Vijay batting in tandem with KL Rahul, hinting at a possible reunion at the top of the order.
All primary batsmen had a long outing against left-arm throw-down specialist Nuwan Seneviratne, who is a recent import from Sri Lanka, in a bid to get used to this particular angle of delivery in anticipation of facing Mitchell Starc.
The other noticeable preparation was against off-spin. Washington Sundar has stayed on until November 29, to help with bowling duties in the nets. Along with R Ashwin anda couple of net spinners, he bowled to a rough outside off-stump to most batsmen.
Primary amongst them was skipper Virat Kohli who started off proceedings with throw-downs and then quickly moved to the spin nets. This is seen as possible preparation against Nathan Lyon, with the Adelaide pitch anticipated to be a dry one like in 2014.
Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul had long stints, facing everything from pace to Kuldeep Yadav’s leg spin. Sharma struggled for timing against Jasprit Bumrah and Umesh Yadav initially, but warmed up soon enough.
Ajinkya Rahane worked with left-arm throw-downs, mostly short and aimed at his body. All other batsmen put in regular shifts as well with Rishabh Pant, Parthiv Patel and Hanuma Vihari among the last to leave the net session.