Tour match: India win toss, opt to bat first against Australia A

Virat Kohli is rested for the game and Ajinkya Rahane will lead the Indian team in this game. Let's see how I wake up tomorrow. You know, I can't play half and half. That's me.

Sydney: India won the toss and opted to bat first against Australia A in the three-day tour game here at Sydney Cricket Ground on Friday.

Virat Kohli is rested for the game and Ajinkya Rahane will lead the Indian team in this game.
“Let’s see how I wake up tomorrow. You know, I can’t play half and half. That’s me. I can’t just stand in slips and go through the motions. I need to wake up in the morning and see. If I feel great, I’ll definitely play. If not, I’ll speak to the physio and trainer and get a few days off and be fresh for the first Test,” Kohli said at the post-match presentation after the final T20I at the SCG.
Ahead of the much-anticipated four-match Test series between India and Australia, this game will serve a lot to the visiting squad before the real test begins.

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The first match will be a day-night affair. Skipper Kohli will head back home after the first Test as he has been granted paternity leave by the BCCI.

Indian players haven’t played a Test series since returning from New Zealand earlier this year while their white-ball cricket started in the Indian Premier League. Indian pacers particularly Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami haven’t played the longest format of the game for over nine months and the tour game provides them with an opportunity to get into the routine.

Whereas Rahane, Cheteshwar Pujara, Umesh Yadav, R Ashwin and Wriddhiman Saha, however, had a good outing in the first tour game against Australia A last week.

Many of the Indian players do not have the experience of playing with the pink ball. They have only played one Test against Bangladesh at Eden Gardens last year.

On the other hand, Australia will have their own problems to solve in the absence of regular opener David Warner. Joe Burns has the support of a lot of people, but he himself would like to have a few runs next to his name in the lead up to the Test after scoring a combine four runs in both innings last game.

India squad: Ajinkya Rahane (C), Prithvi Shaw, Mayank Agarwal, Shubman Gill, Hanuma Vihari, Rishabh Pant, Wriddhiman Saha, Navdeep Saini, Mohd. Shami, Mohd. Siraj, Jasprit Bumrah.

Australia squad: Joe Burns, Marcus Harris, Nic Maddinson, Ben McDermott, Cameron Green, Jack Wildermuth, Alex Carey (C), Sean Abbott, Will Sutherland, Mitch Swepson, Harry Conway.