The anticipation around the upcoming Border-Gavaskar Trophy is palpable. India are Australia are slated to square off in a five-match Test series for the first time in over three decades.
The marquee series is slated to get underway on November 22 in Perth and the action will then shift to Adelaide (December 6-10), where both teams will face each other in a Day-Night Test. The last three Tests are set to take place in Brisbane (December 14-18), Melbourne (December 26-30), and Sydney (January 3-7).
Prior to the challenging assignment, the Indian team was supposed to play an intra-squad game against India ‘A’ at the WACA from November 15-17 to fine-tune their preparations. However, the three-day fixture has now been cancelled.
According to a report published in ESPNCricinfo, the BCCI has decided to scrap the intra-squad match. Instead, the board has opted for net sessions and centre-wicket match simulation practices at the WACA.
This means, India’s opening match of the tour will be the Test starting from November 22 without any warm-up fixtures like they did in previous tours against domestic Australian teams.
The India A side is currently playing the first unofficial Test against Australia A in Mackay. The second unofficial Test is slated to be held in Melbourne from November 7-10.
The Rohit Sharma-led team will depart for Australia shortly after the culmination of the third Test against New Zealand, which got underway on November 1 in Mumbai.
Over the years, the BCCI witnessed a decline in quality of practice matches and there came a time during MS Dhoni’s tenure as Test captain when most of these tour games got unofficial status so that all 15 in the squad could bat and bowl. Earlier, these matches used to have first-class status.
It was before the 2021 World Test Championship final in England, during the peak COVID-19 pandemic, that the senior team introduced the concept of intra-squad match simulation.
During the 2023-24 series tour of South Africa, both India A and India were present in the rainbow nation at the same time. In between the two ‘A’ Tests, the second-string did take on the main team before the latter’s opening game at Centurion.
(With ESPNCricinfo/PTI Inputs)
