Indian cricketers KL Rahul and Dhruv Jurel will arrive in Australia a week ahead of the main Test squad to get some match practice before the five-Test series starts on November 22 in Perth.
The two are set to play for the second and last four-day match for India A being led by Ruturaj Gaikwad who will start off from 7th of November in Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG). They had earlier lost the first game by seven wickets played in Mackay.
The third day was shrouded in controversy because the game was marred by the issue of a ball, which saw India A losing heavily on that day. Ishan Kishan was however acquitted of the charge of dissent after there was a squabble between him and the on-field umpire.
Rahul was axed from India's XI after the first Test which India lost to New Zealand in Bengaluru where Rahul scored 0 and 12. Shubman Gill took his place as he returned for the second and third Tests of the series in which India suffered a whitewash of 3-0—to their first home series in 24 years.
Jurel, who made his Test debut against England earlier this year, has not played in any of the five home Tests since Rishabh Pant's return. Since the England series in March, he has played only two red-ball matches: one in the Duleep Trophy and the other in the Irani Cup last month. He scored 2 and 0 in the Duleep Trophy game, but came back with a brisk 93 off 121 balls against Mumbai in the Irani Cup.
The early arrival of both players for additional match practice is important, considering the Indian team has canceled their only intra-squad warm-up match intended for centre-wicket simulation in Perth. "We're traveling with a squad of 19 players and only three days were earmarked for us. I don't know how much workload we can get in those three days in terms of getting everyone prepared," explained skipper Rohit Sharma on Sunday. Management feels that we would rather have a match simulation where the batters can spend more time in the middle and the bowlers can bowl a lot of balls. That is something that we, as a team, feel more comfortable doing rather than playing a practice game because game time is not an issue."
The Indian team will leave for Australia on November 10 and will train at the WACA, their former venue in Perth, before the series opener at Optus Stadium, where they won 2-1 during the 2018-19 tour.
India might have to do without Rohit for the first Test because of personal reasons and Abhimanyu Easwaran would be his replacement in the squad unless the order is changed, as Easwaran scored 7 and 12 in the first A game that followed four consecutive first class centuries at the start of the domestic season.
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