India to play intra-squad warm-up match at WACA on Friday ahead of Australia Tests but BCCI denies public viewing
The Indian players may play against each other after all in the lead-up to the series opener of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
The visiting Indian team in Australia are reportedly set to play a warm-up game at the WACA in Perth on Friday, although the Board for Cricket Control in India (BCCI) has denied any public viewing of the same. The development comes a day after India held their first practice session at the old Test venue, two weeks before the start of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy series in Perth.
According to a report in The West Australian, India will engage in a three-day intra-squad warm-up match at the WACA, scheduled to take place from Friday to Sunday. However, the general public won't be allowed to watch the match as BCCI made an intervention to keep the stadium under lockdown.
India began their practice for the Border-Gavaskar series, which begins on November 22 at the Optus Stadium, with WACA under wraps, covered with black traps so that the training session is kept away from the public eye. The report further said that the West Australian cricket staff members were denied using their phones outside their offices and filming inside the ground.
Virat Kohli skips first training session
Virat Kohli, the former India captain, was the first from the Test squad to reach Perth, having arrived in the city on Sunday. But he skipped the training session on Tuesday, which was reportedly an optional one. Jasprit Bumrah and Ravichandran Ashwin also missed it. The likes of KL Rahul and Yashasvi Jaiswal, however, hit the nets, along with wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant.
Jaiswal and Rahul could be India's opening pair in the Perth Test next week, with captain Rohit Sharma likely to miss out owing to the birth of his second child. The 37-year-old did not travel with the Indian team to Perth, with the management still unsure over his availability.
"At the moment, there is no confirmation, but we will let you know exactly what the situation will be. Hopefully, he's going to be available, but everything we're going to get to know at the start of the series," India head coach Gautam Gambhir said at a press conference in Mumbai on Monday before the squad's flight to Australia.
While the Rohit rumour did raise questions about his back-up for the Australia series opener, Gambhir said that they do have options to choose from, which will be decided closer to the date of the match.
"Obviously there is [Abhimanyu] Easwaran and there is KL [Rahul] there. So we will take a call closer to the first Test match if Rohit is not available," Gambhir said. "There are options there, it's not that there are no options there. There are quite a few options in the squad.
"Once it gets closer to the first Test match, we'll plan and play the best playing XI that's going to do the job for us."