Australia A Captain Alex Carey on Thursday (December 10) said the hosts are hoping to play a full-strength Indians' side in the upcoming three-day day-night practice game, beginning Friday (December 11) at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) in Sydney.
Joe Burns, Cameron Green, Sean Abbott, and Mitchell Swepson will be the star attractions from the Australian side in the pink-ball practice-match in Sydney, while skipper Carey was excited at the potential face-off against India captain Virat Kohli at SCG before the first Test in Adelaide.
Carey said on Thursday, “It would be awesome to get that experience and opportunity against him (Kohli). We're hoping that India puts their best line-up out there, and we can put up a show against them. It's a great, exciting opportunity to play against a high-quality Test team.”
In the recent three-day practice-match, Cameron Green impressed the most as he first played an impressive knock of 125 runs studded with 12 fours and one six and then took the wickets of Shubman Gill and Prithvi Shaw to help Australia-A gain a 59-run lead over India A in the second innings.
Carey added, “If we mention the bloke in the form in Green, the way he's playing is really exciting to see him up close. We've also got lots of players vying for Test selection so we'll be going full bore. Excited to see some of the young quicks and Swepson's form in the lead-up has been unbelievable as well.”
He also commented on struggling Joe Burns, saying: “He’s really experienced, we know how good a player he is and no doubt he'll be working really hard tomorrow to score some runs. Fully trust the way he goes about it, he's a proven opening batsman over a long time.”
Carey signed off by saying, “Joe's in great spirits...in the nets, he's hitting the ball really well so there's a big score just around the corner. Seeing him and [Marcus Harris] line-up at the top against a really strong Indian team will be a really great opportunity for both of them.”
Australia A squad for the day-night practice game:
Sean Abbott, Joe Burns, Alex Carey (c), Marcus Harris, Harry Conway, Cameron Green, Moises Henriques, Nic Maddinson, Ben McDermott, Mark Steketee, Will Sutherland, Mitchell Swepson.
(With ANI/ESPNCricinfo Inputs)
