India did well in their warm-up for the pink-ball Test, but kept cards close to their chest to veil their plans from Australia, who would be desperate to fight back in the five-match series after their embarrassing loss in the opener in Perth.
India’s two-day warm-up game with the pink ball against the Prime Minister’s XI was curtailed to just a day’s play because of inclement weather. On Sunday, at the manuka Oval in Canberra, the two sides faced off in a 46-overs-a-side contest and the Indians emerged victorious by six wickets.
One big relief takeaway from the match was Shubman Gill’s return to action. The young batsman dispelled all doubts about his thumb injury with a stylish fifty. Others too got runs. Yashasvi Jaiswal made 45, while all-rounders Washington Sundar and Nitish Kumar Reddy got identical scores of 42 each as India comfortably chased down a target of 241 in 42.5 overs. But since it was all about practice, India batted their full quota of 46 overs.
Regular captain Rohit Sharma, who missed the first Test, too got to spend time in the middle though his stay was not long. He could make only 3 before being dismissed. But more than that, what was intriguing was his coming out to bat at No. 4, with Jaiswal, KL Rahul and Gill going ahead of him. Is that the batting order India are going to employ in the second Test, which is to be played in the day-night format with the pink ball in Adelaide from December 6?
While those were the main talking points from the game, away from the field, Virat Kohli and Jasprit Bumrah were busy at the nets. The two seniors did not feature in Sunday’s warm-up game. Looks like the Indian team management does not want the home team to do their homework on the visitors’ two best weapons.
Not just Kohli and Bumrah, senior spinner Ravichandran Ashwin was also seen at the nets and did not play the warm-up match.
The office was not in the playing XI in Perth. Will he then play in Adelaide? That’s a difficult guess since Washington Sundar did not do much wrong in Perth and may just hold on to his place in the team.
For the record, Ashwin had a four-wicket haul in the last Pink-ball Test in Adelaide in 2020-21.
Coming back to the warm-up game, skipper Rohit, India’s long-time opener, let Jaiswal and Rahul walk in at the start of the innings. But all eyes were on Gill, who came in at No. 3. During his innings, Gill did not have any such problem in playing his shots. He hit seven boundaries before retiring after facing 62 balls.
The Indian pacers too had a good time as they shared eight wickets. Harshit Rana, who made his Test debut in Perth, was the most impressive of the lot with four wickets.
By the way, Rishabh Pant did not come out to bat though he played the game.
Brief scores: Australia PM XI 240 in 43.2 ovs (Sam Konstas 107; Harshit Rana 4/44, Akash Deep 2/58). India 257/5 in 46 ovs (Shubman Gill 50 retired not out, Yashasvi Jaiswal 45, Nitish Kumar Reddy 42, Washington Sundar 42 n.o.). India won by 6 wkts.
