The Indian cricket team will not play the intra-squad match with the Ruturaj Gaikwad-led ‘A’ side to focus more on the Border Gavaskar Trophy (BGT), according to reports. India’s tour of Australia starts with the first Test in Perth on November 22 and it is understood that the Indian team wants to spend more time at the nets before the actual action begins. India were scheduled to play India ‘A’ at the WACA behind closed doors from November 15 to 17.
Under new head coach Gautam Gambhir, India had a tough time so far. They lost a bilateral ODI series to Sri Lanka after more than three decades before surrendering in front of New Zealand at home in the ongoing Test series.
Gambhir’s ultimate test will be the five-match Test series against Australia in BGT. It is understood that the head coach wants more time for his batters at WACA strips as it possesses the same pace and bounce as that in Perth. In that case, an intra-squad match might not work according to the plans.
Mukesh Kumar snares 6 vs Australia A
On the other hand, India A staged a brilliant comeback against Australia A in the first unoffical Test match. After being bowled out for just 107 in the first innings, India A’s Mukesh Kumar snared six wickets to restrict the opposition to 195 all out.
In the second innings, India A didn’t had a great start as the visitors lost openers Abhimanyu Easwaran and captain Ruturaj Gaikwad cheaply. But Devdutt Padikkal and Sai Sudarshan ensured there are no further hiccups as India A ended Day 2 at 208/2 with a lead of 120 runs.
While Padikkal is batting on 80, Sudarshan just need four runs to complete his century. In fact, Padikkal had the medical team look into his legs in between but the Karnataka batter showed up brave fight as India A solidified their position in Mackay.