The first day of the two-day practice match between India and the Prime Minister’s XI was washed out due to persistent rain in Canberra. It hampered India’s preparation with the Pink ball for second Test against India, which will be a day-night fixture in Adelaide.
The toss was set to take place at 2.10pm (local time) with the first ball at 2.40pm but a steady drizzle meant the pitch stayed under covers. The game was initially delayed and later it was abandoned.
India will now have a single day of match practice with the pink ball before playing in Adelaide from December 6.
Change In Format For Day 2.
According to BCCI’s official X (previously Twitter) handle, the play will resume on Sunday at 9:10 am IST. Coin toss will be at 8:40 am IST.
However, there will be a change in the format as both teams have agreed to play 50 overs per side at Canberra’s Manuka Oval on Sunday should the rain clear and the ground be deemed safe.
Update: PM’s XI v India – Manuka Oval
Play has been abandoned for Day 1 and will resume tomorrow (Sunday) at 9:10 am IST. Coin toss will be at 8:40 am IST.
Teams have agreed to play 50 overs per side.#TeamIndia pic.twitter.com/qb56K8dtX0
— BCCI (@BCCI) November 30, 2024
Lack Of Practice For Rohit Sharma And Shubman Gill
The two-day practice match between India and Prime Minister in Canberra is vital for captain Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill as both missed the first Test in Perth for different reasons. While Rohit missed India’s 295-run first Test victory because of the birth of his first child, Gill was ruled out with a broken thumb.
Rohit has had couple of extensive net sessions with Pink ball but facing some quality bowlers in a real-match situation holds a different value, considering India’s last day-night Test was against Sri Lanka in March 2022 in Bengaluru.
On the other hand, Gill had his first practice session in Canberra on Friday since returning from the injury and he would have been hoping to enter the match zone through this side game.
Notably, Rohit and Gill are expected to replace Devdutt Padikkal and Dhruv Jurel in the playing eleven for the Adelaide Test.
Prime Minister’s XI squad: Jack Edwards (c), Charlie Anderson, Mahli Beardman, Scott Boland, Jack Clayton, Aidan O’Connor, Ollie Davies, Jayden Goodwin, Sam Harper, Hanno Jacobs, Sam Konstas, Lloyd Pope, Matthew Renshaw, Jem Ryan
India squad: Rohit Sharma (c), Jasprit Bumrah, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant, Sarfaraz Khan, Dhruv Jurel, R Ashwin, R Jadeja, Mohammed Siraj, Akash Deep, Prasidh Krishna, Harshit Rana, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar.
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