India prioritise net practice ahead of BGT, not to play intra-squad match

India scheduled to begin their tour of Australia with a closed-door warm-up match against the Ruturaj Gaikwad-led India A at the WACA in Perth from November 15 to 17

New Delhi: India have decided to cancel a planned three-day intra-squad match with the ‘A’ side during the upcoming Test tour of Australia as the team management wants to focus on additional net practice to prepare for the marquee five-match showdown starting November 22 in Perth.

India were scheduled to begin their tour of Australia with a closed-door warm-up match against the Ruturaj Gaikwad-led India A at the WACA in Perth from November 15 to 17. India A are currently in Australia for an unofficial Test series. However, PTI has learnt that head coach Gautam Gambhir and some senior players want more time in the nets instead.

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Rohit Sharma and his men will head to Australia after a shocking home series loss to New Zealand. Vying for a third straight Test series victory in Australia, the tourists will face added pressure, as a place in the World Test Championship final is also at stake.

It is understood that since the bounce of the WACA centre strip resembles that of the Perth Stadium track, all top order batters would prefer more time in the middle. An intra squad match might not work in that scenario as if a batter gets out cheaply, then he might not immediately get a chance to bat again on the centre strip.

This marks a change from India’s last two tours of Australia when the side played practice games ahead of the main series. In the lead-up to the 2018-19 series, the ‘Men in Blue’ played a four-day match against Cricket Australia XI. For the 2020-21 tour, they started the red-ball leg with a three-day game against Australia A.

India A and the senior team played an intra-squad match in Johannesburg prior to the first Test against South Africa in Centurion on Boxing Day last year. Despite the match, the Indian batting came short in the Test. It’s not known whether the outcome of this experiment influenced their decision-making for the Australia series.

The Indian team is scheduled to fly to Australia shortly after the third and final Test against New Zealand concludes in Mumbai on November 5.