Virat Kohli, Jasprit Bumrah grind hard in Perth ahead of 1st Test vs Australia

The Indian cricket team practiced hard in the nets in Perth ahead of the first Test match against Australia set to begin from November 22.

Notably, all the members of the team have arrived in South Africa apart from their captain Rohit Sharma who’s likely to miss the first Test due to personal reasons.

The entire squad got in an intense practice session in Perth on Wednesday, November 13 under the watchful eyes of bowling coach Morne Morkel and assistant coaches Ryan Ten Doeschate and Abhishek Nayar. In a video released by the BCCI (Board of Control for Cricket in India) players could be seen going through their warm up drills followed by an intense bowling and batting sessions.

Abhishek Nayar opened up on the challenges for the Indian players heading into the series and highlighted the importance of and Australia series in an Indian player’s life.

“It’s one of the toughest challenges for an Indian cricketer, coming here and overcoming it. I think Gauti Bhai (Gautam Gambhir) had a chat with the boys just before we started here. Some of the senior boys as well such as Booms (Jasprit Bumrah), Virat, Ash (Ashwin) all having you know chat with the guys, how first they came here as youngsters with a lot of seniors around.

And how they sort of felt that once you finish the Australia series, you go back as a better cricketer. I think a lot of the young boys are really keen raring to go and hopefully make a name for themselves by the end of this tour,” said Nayar in a video released by BCCI.

Bowling coach Morne Morkel said that both teams will not be willing to give an inch to each other and the series will witness hard-fought sessions.

“I think it’s a showpiece on the international cricket calendar. It’s going to be teams that are not going to give anybody an inch or sniff and there are going to be hard-fought sessions. So I’m hopeful for the next five Test matches is hot, you know five days of cricket when you sit after the day’s play and you play for your sure that I’ve given it all,” he added.

India will reportedly be playing an intra-squad game ahead of the first Test to get their preparation right for the hard and bouncy surface of the Perth Stadium. In the absence of India captain, KL Rahul or Abhimanyu Easwaran are the front runners to open for India if the captain doesn’t make it in time for the series opener. The series holds massive importance for India as they need to win four matches out of five to qualify for the World Test Championship (WTC) 2025 without depending on other results.