By CricketCountry Staff
Team India’s focus will be on acclimatisation and finding the right combination ahead of their grueling four-match Test series against Australia, when they take on with Cricket Australia’s Chairman XI in a two-day warm-up game at the Manuka Oval in Canberra.
Published: Dec 15, 2011, 05:49 AM (IST)
Edited: Dec 15, 2011, 05:49 AM (IST)
Gautam Gambhir (L) and Virat Kohli during a Team India training session ahead of the first warm-up match © Getty Images
By CricketCountry Staff
Canberra: Dec 15, 2011
Team India’s focus will be on acclimatisation and finding the right combination ahead of their grueling four-match Test series against Australia, when they take on with Cricket Australia’s Chairman XI in a two-day warm-up game at the Manuka Oval in Canberra.
India are high on confidence after their 2-0 and 4-1 wins in the Test and ODI series against the West Indies and they would straightaway get down to their task of getting a feel of Australian conditions which would be much different from what they had faced at home.
Sniffing India’s best chance to beat a weakened and demoralised Australian side at their own backyard, captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni had stressed upon the importance of acclimatising to the conditions as fast as possible in the 12 days ahead of first Test starting in Melbourne on December 26.
The Indian Cricket Board had also sent seven players, including the trio of Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman five days in advance to train in Melbourne, to prepare for what would certainly be their last tour of Australia.
The remaining players, including Dhoni and coach Duncan Fletcher landed in Australia last night and straightaway left for Canberra for the first warm-up game.
Teams:
Cricket Australia Chairman’s XI: Wes Robinson, Ryan Broad (c), J Burns, Tom Cooper, Alex Doolan, Glenn Maxwell, Dean Solway, Tim Ludeman(wk), Josh Lalor, Jake Haberfield.
India: Rahul Dravid (c), Gautam Gambhir, Sachin Tendulkar, VVS Laxman, Virat Kohli, Wriddhiman Saha (wk), Ishant Sharma, Umesh Yadav, Pragyan Ojha, Abhimanyu Mithun, Rohit Sharma, Ajinkya Rahane.
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