Two days before the start of the Perth Test on November 22 at the Optus Stadium for India of the Border Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) 2024-25, the first official press conference took place for the visiting side. The premier off-spin all-rounder of the tourists, Ravichandran Ashwin, was supposed to walk for the first official press conference of the Indian team, but the bowling coach, Morne Morkel, made his presence.
The change of personnel for India surprised the whole room, but the former Protea fast bowler informed that the players were engaged in a team meeting little longer than expected, leaving the Chennai-born little time to meet the media before going into the nets.
During the initial training at the WACA, just across the Swan River from the Optus Stadium, the reports of the Australian media claimed that there was a request to keep the practice session of the Blue Brigade private, which the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) refused at the end.
Two days before the start of the series, the visiting team opened the practice session to the entire media, especially after the comments of Josh Hazlewood, who reckoned that there had been no secrets in world crocket with so much data and information available besides the visuals to go by.
Khaleel Ahmed, who was in the reserves, went back home due to injuries, and Yash Dayal, who flew to South Africa for the T20I series, has joined the team in Australia. Shubman Gill was largely a spectator in the practice session, checking the 22-yard, as he has already been ruled out of the opening fixture due to the finger injury he picked up in the practice game while fielding.
The net session of India highlighted the battle between Virat Kohli and Jasprit Bumrah
Despite Morkel’s optimism of the batters, getting better in the recovery process, the Punjab-batter is racing against time to get fit for their two-night warm-up clash against the Australian Prime Minister’s XI in Canberra. In his place, Devdutt Padikkal, who was a regular member in the slip-catching practice, could add his one Test match tally for India after scoring 65 on his debut in Dharamshala.
The opening batter, Yashasvi Jaiswal, is going to face the Australia side for the very first time. He had several moments of discomfort against the pacers in the nearest of the four nets, but KL Rahul, Dhruv Jurel, and Virat Kohli moved beautifully with the bat.
Kohli was in the war against Mukesh Kumar after the former captain of India struggled against the specific pacer in their practice session a few days ago. Jasprit Bumrah, the captain for this game, appeared to be enjoying the challenge as he went about his bowling with a beaming smile on his face.
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Bumrah got engaged in a battle with Kohli, which extended the session quite a lot. Jurel looked in good touch and is set to be part of the top six for India in the Perth Test. His supreme touch at the MCG during the second unofficial Test against Australia A could make a huge blow in the Test career of Sarfaraz Khan, who has been struggling for a long time with form.
The Mumbai batter doesn’t have much contribution to show at the tough times, apart from his 150-run knock against New Zealand at home in the second innings of the Bengaluru Test. The top six for now is settled for India, as the management stands for the results to get.