Former Indian cricket team spinner Anil Kumble was left surprised by BCCI’s decision to cancel the practice game ahead of the first Test match against Australia in Perth starting November 22. The Indian cricket team was going to play a practice match against India A but following the Test series whitewash against New Zealand, the BCCI decided to scrap the encounter. During a discussion on JioCinema, Kumble said that the practice match would have ideal preparation for Rohit Sharma and Co before adding that such match practice cannot be achieved by just net sessions.
“I’m a bit surprised that India don’t have a practice match going into the first Test because that would have been an ideal preparation. No matter how much you practice in the nets, going out in the middle and facing a few bowlers in the match is totally different,” he said.
Right-handed batter KL Rahul and wicketkeeper-batter Dhurv Jurel are on their way to link up with the India A squad ahead of their second four-day game against Australia A, set to begin at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) from November 7.
Sources told IANS that Rahul and Jurel left for Melbourne on Sunday night after the third Test ended at the Wankhede Stadium, which India lost by 25 runs to New Zealand and suffer a 3-0 series defeat.
As per the sources, Rahul and Jurel will join the India ‘A’ squad by Tuesday, and get to play in the second four-day game, with an eye to give them some game time before linking up with the main Test team to prepare for the all-important Border-Gavaskar Trophy series, starting on November 22 in Perth. It will be followed by games in Adelaide, Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney till January 7, 2025.
Rahul played three Tests in the Indian home season, with his last game coming via the hosts’ series opener against New Zealand at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru. After making scores of 0 and 12 in that game, where India lost by eight wickets, he didn’t feature in remainder of the series.
On the other hand, Jurel didn’t get a game to play in the five Tests India played at home, though he did get to feature as a substitute wicketkeeper in the first Test at Bengaluru after Rishabh Pant hurt his knee while being on keeping duties.
The first four-day game saw India A, captained by Ruturaj Gaikwad, suffer a heavy seven-wicket defeat at the Great Barrier Reef Arena in Mackay, Queensland, with left-handed batters B Sai Sudharsan and Devdutt Padikkal along with pacer Mukesh Kumar being the standout performers.
(With IANS inputs)
