India's Rohit Sharma puzzle to Harshit Rana, Gill's AUS warning: Takeaways from pink-ball warm-up win vs Australia PM XI
Five key takeaways for India from their practice tour match against Australian PM-XI in Canberra.
India’s preparatory match against the Australian Prime Minister’s XI at the Manuka Oval in Canberra was something of a dress rehearsal for the touring team, with the performances and tactical decisions on show in the match providing a window into what shape fans might see in Adelaide next week.
India managed to bowl out PM-XI for 240 runs, before putting up 257 runs in their allotted 46 overs to take home the honours from this tour match in confident fashion.
With India finding plenty of positives in Canberra as they played against PM-XI with the pink ball, here are five key takeaways heading into the second match of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
Harshit Rana explodes with 4 wickets, odds-on favourite to remain in team?
Having earned his debut in the Perth Test match and giving a good showing of himself with a memorable maiden wicket of Travis Head, Harshit Rana continued his strong claim towards being a deputy for Jasprit Bumrah with a four-wicket performance against PM-XI.
Harshit burst through the middle order of the opposition, taking 4 wickets in 6 balls split across two overs as he turned the tide of the innings. A shoo-in for the Adelaide Oval.
KL Rahul and Yashasvi Jaiswal continue to open
After their fantastic 201-run opening partnership in the third innings in Perth, there were many wondering if Rohit Sharma’s return would disturb the opening duo of Rahul and Jaiswal. In a potentially telling move, Jaiswal and Rahul stepped out to open and continued to look comfortable. With Shubman Gill also stepping in at number three, does this spell a move back to the middle order for Rohit Sharma?
Shubman Gill with half century on return
Gill missed the first Test after being hit on the hand during India’s intra-aquad simulation match, but was back as if he had never left with a solid and fluent half-century against PM-XI. Gill looks set to return and take his spot back from Devdutt Padikkal in a bit of positive news for him and Indian fans alike.
Rohit Sharma’s struggles continue, dismissed cheaply
Rohit Sharma’s form was one of the key points in this match, and he interestingly came in at number four. With struggles against seam and the new ball, he would have been hoping for some solid runs, but it wasn’t to be for him as his torrid spell continued, dismissed for just 3 runs by Charlie Anderson. A spot of concern for Rohit, and continued questions about his batting position.
Nitish Kumar Reddy and Washington Sundar counterpunch down the order
Nitish Kumar Reddy continued to show his skills as a long form batter with a brisk score, but somewhat surprisingly, he was joined by Washington Sundar despite some wondering if he might make way for Ravichandran Ashwin in Adelaide. Ashwin didn’t even bowl in Canberra, with Sundar and Jadeja bowling the overs of spin. Could this mean Washington continues to figure as India’s spinner in the second Test match?
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