Perth [Australia]: Team India stars started their practice session at Perth ahead of the highly-anticipated first Test against Australia at the Optus Stadium.
The first Test of the highly-anticipated Border-Gavaskar Trophy will be played at Perth’s Optus Stadium from November 22 onwards. The series is extremely crucial for both sides’ ICC World Test Championship final chances. While the Aussies will be aiming to get a good start in their bid to prevent a hat-trick of series losses to India at home, the visitors would also be charged up after a humiliating whitewash series loss to New Zealand at home in the three-match Test series, their first Test series loss in home conditions in 12 years.
Pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah, middle-order batter KL Rahul, star batter Virat Kohli, all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja, fast bowler Mohammed Siraj, wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant and young opener Yashasvi Jaiswal were among the players who turned up for the session.
India is practicing at the Western Australia Cricket Association (WACA) ground. The iconic venue is undergoing redevelopment and is expected to be completed before next season.
On Tuesday, experienced stars like Virat, Bumrah, Jadeja and Ashwin were not present while players like Pant, KL and Jaiswal toiled hard in the nets, having hour-long sessions. The batters tried to get used to the fast and bouncy conditions common in Australia and several local Perth club bowlers were selected to unleash their bowling to Indian stars. Back-of-a-length balls were encouraged while bouncers were rare, as per ESPNCricinfo.
Jaiswal was batting with the same attacking avatar he has displayed in his Test career so far, with one of his big hits clearing the nets and sailing into the Braithwaite Street. Pant looked fluent while batting but got hit on his body.
By Wednesday, Virat also came for practice along with other main stars like Jadeja, Ashwin and Bumrah. The 36-year-old looked extremely sharp and focused against pace bowling which he faced for more than an hour. He spent time in each of four nets. Virat was tested by back-of-the-length and full-length deliveries, as per ESPNCricinfo.
With a 3-0 series whitewash against New Zealand at home, India needs to win the series by 4-0 to punch their ticket to feature in London for the WTC final for the third successive time directly.
After the conclusion series opener in Perth, the second Test, featuring the day-night format, will take place under lights at Adelaide Oval from December 6 to 10. Fans will then turn their attention to The Gabba in Brisbane for the third Test from December 14 to 18.
The traditional Boxing Day Test, scheduled from December 26 to 30 at Melbourne’s iconic Melbourne Cricket Ground, will mark the series’ penultimate stage.
The fifth and final Test will be held at the Sydney Cricket Ground from January 3 to 7, promising an exciting climax to a highly anticipated series.
India’s squad for Border-Gavaskar Series: Rohit Sharma (c), Jasprit Bumrah (vc), Ravichandran Ashwin, Mohammad Shami, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Shubman Gill, Ravindra Jadeja, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Dhruv Jurel (wk), Sarfaraz Khan, Virat Kohli, Prasidh Krishna, Rishabh Pant (wk), KL Rahul, Harshit Rana, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Mohammed Siraj, Washington Sundar.
Australia squad for the first Test: Pat Cummins (c), Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Mitch Marsh, Nathan McSweeney, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc.