Having won the first Test against India at Adelaide convincingly, Australia are leaving no stone unturned to deliver another knock out punch in the Boxing Day Test, which starts on Friday. Even in the first Test, it was their batting that struggled a bit against off-spinner R Ashwin, and on Thursday, the Aussie batsmen looked to iron out the glitches.
In this bid, former Sri Lanka off-spinner Suraj Randiv joined the Aussie team in the nets and bowled to their batsmen.
“Being a World class spinner, that too from the subcontinent, he provided good inputs to our boys. It will certainly help us in combating Ashwin in the upcoming matches of the series” an insider at Australian team management told Cricket Age.
On the other hand, Keeping aside the humiliating defeat in the first Test, Team India on Wednesday began their preparation for the second Test against Australia beginning Saturday.
On Wednesday, the official handle of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) tweeted images of the team practising at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
“We are in Melbourne and now as the red-ball Tests start, it is time to regroup,” BCCI wrote along with the photographs.
India suffered an emphatic eight-wicket loss in the first pink-ball Test at the Adelaide Oval, a match which saw the Indian team getting bundled out for mere 36 in their second innings – India’s lowest Test inning total in history.
[12/24, 10:09] January 9: In the remaining three Tests, the visitors will be without the services of Virat Kohli and Mohammad Shami. While Kohli has been granted paternity leave, Shami has suffered from a fracture in his forearm and subsequently ruled out of the remainder of the Test series.
[12/24, 10:10] January 9: In Kohli’s absence, Ajinkya Rahane will lead the side and will have an uphill task of making a comeback.
