Team India Bans Open Net Practice After 5,000 Fans Turn Up At Adelaide Oval

Team India decided to ban its open net practice sessions after more than 5,000 spectators gathered at the Adelaide Oval to watch the team, as reported by The Age.

The players reportedly felt uncomfortable with the carnival-like atmosphere in the stadium during the open session.

“India has expressed a preference for their remaining training sessions not to be open to the public to minimize potential noise or distractions,” a Cricket Australia (CA) spokesperson said.

Australia’s practice sessions will continue to be open to the public, according to the report.

With India ramping up its preparations for the second Test, players engaged in intense throwdown sessions, and bowlers faced star players on Tuesday. The highlight of the entire session was when Virat Kohli faced Jasprit Bumrah at the other end.

The battle began with Kohli letting a couple of balls pass. Then Bumrah upped the ante, as Kohli, who was covering his stumps, saw the ball go past his off-stump.

Kohli showed his class with an impeccable backfoot punch, demonstrating how focused he was while facing India’s ace quick.

One of the most notable things throughout the training session was the movement off the pitch that Bumrah was able to generate. While bowling around the wicket, Bumrah easily beat Rishabh Pant’s outside edge.

India are currently 1-0 up in the BGT series following their record-breaking 295-run victory in Perth. The second Test will be played in a day-night format in Adelaide, beginning on Friday.

Australia squad (for second Test): Pat Cummins (C), Scott Boland, Alex Carey (WK), Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Mitch Marsh, Nathan McSweeney, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Beau Webster.

India squad: Rohit Sharma (C), Jasprit Bumrah (VC), Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Devdutt Padikkal, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant, Sarfaraz Khan, Dhruv Jurel, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Siraj, Akash Deep, Prasidh Krishna, Harshit Rana, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar.

Reserves: Mukesh Kumar, Navdeep Saini, Khaleel Ahmed, Yash Dayal.