Australia intended to train at the Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium in Nagpur on Sunday and Monday after the first Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy ended within 3 days, but their plans faced a roadblock when they found that the pitches at the venue were watered. Australia eventually had to cancel their optional training session on Sunday.
Australia’s team management tried to inform the ground staff on Saturday to hold off watering the pitches after the 1st Test ended earlier than expected. Australia were hammered by an Innings and 132 runs in the series opener on Saturday.
However, the visiting Australian side are hopeful of training on Monday before they take the trip to New Delhi, the venue of the 2nd Test, on Tuesday.
Notably, Australia did not train in Nagpur for more than 2 days in the lead-up to the first Test of the much-anticipated Border-Gavaskar Trophy. The visitors arrived in Bengaluru a week before the start of the series opener. Australia trained at the KSCA Stadium in Alur, in the outskirts of Bengaluru for 4 days on specially-curated pitches designed to aid spin bowlers. Australia flew in net bowlers from across the country to bowl to the likes of Steve Smith and Marnu Labuschagne.
