NEW DELHI: India will play Australia Prime Minister’s XI in a two-day tour match at the Manuka Oval in Canberra starting on Saturday, with the aim of determining their batting lineup for the day-night Test in Adelaide the following week.
India have now played four day-night Test matches, and their solitary defeat was four years ago in Adelaide when they were bowled out for 36 before winning the Test series.
Border-Gavaskar Trophy
The think tank will have to change the batting order for the match starting on December 6 due to the arrival of Rohit Sharma, who missed the first Test because of the birth of his second child, and the anticipated return of a fit-again Shubman Gill.
The scheduled openers are Rohit and Yashasvi Jaiswal, but since the latter and KL Rahul played so well at the top in Perth, there is a case to be made for the Indian captain to go down the order.
Where will KL Rahul bat when Rohit Sharma returns to Playing XI for Adelaide Test
Team India assistant coach Abhishek Nayar talked to reporters after a practice session in Canberra, but did not confirm the batting spot for the Indian captain.
On being asked about Rohit’s batting spot and if anything has been decided by the Indian think tank, Nayar said, “Not yet. I think it is too early for us to think about that, we’re just going to try and take this game and see how it goes and then maybe come up with plans once we reach Adelaide.”
Gill took guard during Friday’s first net practice, showing that his recuperation is going smoothly.
Talking about Gill’s return, Nayar said, “His evaluation will be done by the physio. He looked quite comfortable while batting, at the moment he is batting indoors and e assessment whether he’ll play tomorrow or not, will be done later.”
Particularly during the twilight hour, the pink ball does far more than the red cherry. The bulk of Indian batters would prefer to feel the ball in the middle because it’s not a top-tier game.
Talking about the pink ball, Nayar said, “The main thing is the adaptation of the colour and the extra lacquer on the pink ball, so we would like to get acclimatize with it in the next few days. The difference mainly is only about the mindset. We had practiced with the pink ball in Perth too.”
When asked about the return of head coach Gautam Gambhir, currently in India for personal reasons, Nayar said, “Gauti bhai should be here soon. I am not sure about the date yet. I am pretty sure that he’ll be there in Adelaide once we get there.”
The Indian team is feeling quite positive after their most convincing victory in Australia during the first Test match in Perth.
India would like to have a lot more time with the bat than the ball because the match is only two days long. Players who are unlikely to be considered unless they are injured, like Sarfaraz Khan, would also like to see some playing time.
Since they are frequently not competitive enough, India has been hesitant to participate in tour games.
