India has opted for a strict, secretive match simulation session at Perth’s WACA Ground over a practice match to optimize player readiness for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
KL Rahul with Gautam Gambhir.
New Delhi: India’s hopes of qualifying for the 2025 World Test Championship final hinge on their performance in the upcoming Border-Gavaskar Trophy, starting November 22 at Optus Stadium in Perth, after a 0-3 defeat to New Zealand. With the planned practice match against India A canceled, the team will instead engage in a different type of practice session ahead of the series.
According to The West Australian, Team India is set to practice at the iconic WACA ground in Perth under strict and secretive conditions. The venue will be locked down, with no public access allowed, and heavy restrictions have been imposed on stadium staff, including a ban on mobile phone use. The team will also undergo match simulation during the practice session ahead of the first Test.
Rohit Sharma explained that the India A practice match was canceled in favor of a match simulation to better manage the players’ workload and ensure they are fully prepared for the upcoming series.
“Look, you know, rather than practice match, we planned a very match simulation kind of a thing with India A. I think sometimes when you play that practice match, we’re travelling with a squad of 19 players and it was only three days that were allotted to us. And I don’t know how much workload we can get done in those three days in terms of getting everyone prepared,” Rohit said.
“So we, as a management as well, we feel that rather than having that, the match simulation where the batters can spend more time in the middle, batting in the middle, and then the bowlers as well can bowl a lot of balls, so that is something that, we as a team feel more comfortable doing rather than playing a practice game because game time is not a problem. All of us have been playing a lot of cricket. So it’s just about spending time in the middle,” the Indian captain added.
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