KL Rahul and Dhruv Jurel will travel to Australia ahead of the main Indian squad to join the India A team and get in some valuable match practice before the Border-Gavaskar Trophy begins in Perth on November 22. Rahul, who had a quiet outing in the recent Test against New Zealand, and Jurel, who only featured as a substitute wicketkeeper, will depart by Tuesday morning. They will join the India A squad for the second four-day match against Australia A in Melbourne starting Thursday.
The decision, made by the BCCI senior selection committee, aligns with Captain Rohit Sharma’s preference for match simulations over practice games with local opponents. According to Sharma, the three allotted days of practice might not be sufficient for thorough preparation for all 19 squad members. Instead, the team management believes that simulations will offer a better environment for the players to get comfortable, allowing batters to spend ample time in the middle and bowlers to manage their workloads effectively.
Sharma explained the approach, saying, “If a batter gets out, he has to sit in the dugout for the whole day and doesn’t get too much batting done. However, in a match simulation, the batters can go out and play 50-70 balls, and then if we feel he’s had enough, we can retire him out and get someone else in.”
The main Indian team is scheduled to fly to Australia in two separate batches, aiming for a well-rounded preparation for the critical Border-Gavaskar series.