NEW DELHI: India commenced their match simulation in Perth today and batters Yashasvi Jasiwal, KL Rahul, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli and Rishabh Pant had a hit in the middle. A report in Sydney Morning Herald claimed that Kohli underwent scans on Thursday but a well-placed source informs that the star India batter is “absolutely fine” and batted without any discomfort in the match simulation.
“Virat Kohli is absolutely fine. He batted in the match simulation without any discomfort and also had a hit in the net after he got out. No concerns there,” says the source.
Kohli was the first Indian player to reach Perth for the upcoming Border-Gavaskar Trophy and the right-hander has been training with the side for the last couple of days. There was, however, some concern as far as KL Rahul is concerned as the right-hander, who was opening the innings with Jaiswal, was hit by a ball and couldn’t bat any further. The management took the cautious route there as it’s a long tour but it is understood that there are no major concerns there as well.
Rahul is likely to open the innings with Jaiswal in the opening Test if captain Rohit Sharma is unavailable for the fixture beginning November 22 in Perth. Rohit is training and batting in Mumbai but his departure schedule will only be confirmed after the birth of his second child.
The Indian captain has been using the Reliance Corporate Park (RCP) and Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) grounds for his training and batting, and was at the MCA facility for a run and gym session on Thursday.
A jumbo Indian contingent featuring India and India A players is in Perth at the moment for the planned match simulations. They were supposed to play a practice fixture but the management decided against it and felt match simulations on the centre wicket would be ideal for the players.
