The disappointment of the pink-ball Test is a thing of the past for Rohit Sharma’s Team India.

With the series tied 1-1, the top-order got together to hone their red-ball skills during an intense nets session in Adelaide on Tuesday morning.

Rohit and Virat Kohli led the way in the nets focusing on their defensive techniques. Kohli was seen working on ways to check his drives, concentrating on technique, while Rohit practised a mix of defensive strokes and backfoot drives, showcasing
his adaptability to different situations.

Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul and Shubman Gill also joined them in the nets and batted for long periods of time. There were enough indications that Rohit could return to open the innings in Brisbane in the way he batted alongside Jaiswal, Kohli
and Rahul against the pace bowlers.

Rohit had dropped himself to No. 6 in the second Test after missing the Perth match following the birth of his son. He had scores of 3 and 6 in Adelaide.

The switch to the red ball in Brisbane will help India, but unless their top order delivers, the bowlers’ effort will not produce results.

The BCCI also shared a short video of the team’s preparation on social media. “It’s time to look ahead. Preparations for the Brisbane Test starts right here in Adelaide,” the BCCI posted on X.

While Australia moved to Brisbane for the third Test, which starts from Saturday, the Indian team chose to stay back and sort out their technique, particularly the judgement in leaving deliveries outside the off stump.

Kohli, who ended his 16-month century drought with a hundred in Perth, was
dogged by his uncertain approach outside the off stump which resulted in nicks — first to second slip and then to wicketkeeper — in the pink-ball Test.

The star Indian batter looked full of intent as he had a watchful start to his nets session before slowly finding his flow.

Rahul looked more subdued, focusing more on his defence, while Rishabh Pant played a few pick-up shots.

Jaiswal, who starred with a 161 in India’s massive 295-run win in the opening Test, was more aggressive displaying his cheeky shots and even stepped out to the Indian bowlers. Jaiswal, however, has struggled in the first innings of both the Tests, being dismissed for ducks on both occasions.

The bowling unit consisted of the likes of Harshit Rana, Akash Deep, Yash Dayal and the spin trio of Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin and Washington Sundar besides the throwdown specialists of the team.

The key Indian pace duo of Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj, along with seam-bowling all-rounder Nitish Kumar Reddy, weren’t present.

India have had more batting collapses than the home team in the series so far and their bowling has looked out of depth whenever Bumrah has been rested. No wonder Rohit asked the rest of the attack to step up while joking about how Bumrah could not bowl from both ends during the post-match news conference in Adelaide.

There’s no word on Mohammed Shami’s arrival in the Indian camp as yet. Rohit had earlier said that the team wants to be very careful about him and doesn’t wish to risk any injury after playing a match. “There are some professionals monitoring, we will take a call based on what those guys feel... The door is very much open,” Rohit said.

India are scheduled to take an early morning flight to Brisbane on Wednesday.

Written with PTI inputs