India vs Australia: Ravindra Jadeja grinds, KL Rahul and Shubman Gill train ahead of Nagpur Test, see pictures

Following consecutive series wins against Sri Lanka and New Zealand, Team India is now gearing up for a greater challenge on home soil. In their upcoming assignment, the Rohit Sharma-led unit will take on Australia for the all-important Border-Gavaskar Trophy.

The opening encounter of the four-match series is slated to begin on 9 February in Nagpur.

While the Aussie brigade has already reached the sub-continent, the Indian unit has also kickstarted their preparations for the highly-anticipated fixtures.

There was a two and half hour morning session where one batch came for training while the second group came in the afternoon.

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The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) shared some photographs of Team India’s first practice session in Nagpur on its official Twitter. In those snaps, a number of prominent players from the Indian side were spotted undergoing net sessions at the Vidarbha Cricket Stadium.

#TeamIndia have begun their preparations for the Border Gavaskar Trophy ahead of the 1st Test in Nagpur.#INDvAUS pic.twitter.com/21NlHzLwGA

— BCCI (@BCCI) February 3, 2023

Among the batters, Virat Kohli, Chetashwar Pujara, Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, and KL Rahul spent some time batting in the nets. Mohammad Siraj and Jaydev Unadkat were clicked bowling at them.

While Shreyas Iyer is missing the Test due to a back injury, both KL Rahul and Shubman Gill also faced main team bowlers and throwdowns in the nets.

Comeback man Ravindra Jadeja bowled a lengthy spell and also batted for a considerable length of time as Indian Test team members had two separate sessions at the Old Civil Lines ground.

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Jadeja, who was out of action for close to five months after knee surgery, recently returned back to competitive cricket with a seven-wicket haul against Tamil Nadu in a Ranji Trophy match.

And the practice continues….#INDvAUS https://t.co/qwRUSxcLBY pic.twitter.com/5mECrOjWiG

— BCCI (@BCCI) February 3, 2023

The Rahul Dravid-led, think-tank wants each and every player to get enough time during their five days of practice before the commencement of the first Test, as a majority of players are coming on the back of limited-overs cricket.

With 16 members plus four net bowlers from the fringe– namely Rahul Chahar (Rajasthan), Washington Sundar, Ravisrinivas Sai Kishore (both TN), and Saurabh Kumar (UP), it is understood that India are preparing to face a lot of spin bowling from Nathan Lyon, Mitchell Swepson and left-arm spinner Ashton Agar.

The presence of four spinners in the main squad and another four makes a total of eight spinners in the set-up.

Chetashwar Pujara is one key player to watch out for, as he has had an impressive record against the Aussies. The right-handed batter has already faced them in 20 Tests and recorded as many as 1,893 runs including 5 centuries and 10 half-centuries.

The fans will also expect an all-out performance from Virat Kohli who has been in good touch in limited-over formats but has not been able to get going in red-ball cricket.

Opener KL Rahul who missed the New Zealand series will try to pick up his form. He managed to rack up just 57 runs in four innings in the test series against Bangladesh and will be keen to turn the tables.

Unlike team’s net session before other international games where there are normally three nets (including one for throwdown), there was arrangement for only two during the day as each player was being allotted enough time at the centre net itself.

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On the other hand, the visiting side- Australia- have been going through their final preparation at the KSCA Cricket Ground in Alur, on the outskirts of Bengaluru. They started off their training last Thursday on specially-made wickets in order to get accustomed to the Indian conditions. Aussie batters were also seen training against a duplicate of Ravichandran Ashwin.

India has an exceptional record against Australia in their own backyard and will look to continue their dominance at home. Looking at the earlier face-offs, India have so far hosted the Aussies in 14 Tests series and among them, came out victorious in eight of them, while the visitors have won only four with the other two ending in a draw. Moreover, the Men in Blue are also the reigning champions of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.

With PTI inputs

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