KL Rahul WACA injury update: KL Rahul had to leave the field after taking a blow to the elbow before the first Test, which has become a matter of concern for India. On the other hand, Virat Kohli dismissed rumours about his fitness but he also got caught behind the wicket with a lot of batters at the WACA during an intra-squad match simulation.
After three days of practice in the WACA nets, India stepped up their preparations at the Optus Stadium a week before the series-opener. An XI team was formed with main players who were mostly playing against the fringe and India A players.
KL Rahul WACA injury update: Perhaps this is an indication that if captain Rohit Sharma misses the first Test, Rahul will open, as he opened with Yashasvi Jaiswal.
Rahul looked in good form and was handling the short bowling well, until he was hit on his right elbow by a fast delivery from Prasidh Krishna. The injury forced him to stand up in a squatting position and he walked off the field after receiving medical attention.
Jaiswal started aggressively and hit a powerful shot through covers but was caught at second slip for just 15 runs. This became a common sight during the simulation, which continued for almost half an hour before lunch.
According to reports, Kohli had got scans done in the last few days but he was looking in good form and took some wonderful shots through the covers. But on 15 runs he was caught out in second slip on the delivery of Mukesh Kumar. After this he kept practicing in the nearby nets for about 30 minutes.
KL Rahul WACA injury update: Indian Batters Focus on Short-Pitched Bowling Drills Ahead of Match
Short-pitched bowling was a priority for the Indian batters on Thursday. Fast bowlers from the local club bowled at a brisk pace, and a few batters were seen participating in a drill in which a tennis ball was aimed at their heads from close range and fired.
The WACA surface had shown less bounce and carry in this simulation so far, compared to the Sheffield Shield matches. But there was some movement from the length and the Indian batters were seen struggling a bit.
Rishabh Pant, who was seen struggling at times against the short ball during the net sessions at the start of the week, hit a nice boundary on the off-side at the start of his innings. But, he seemed to shake a bit after a groin hit. He then was clean bowled by a fast delivery from Nitish Kumar Reddy. Nitish later gave a standout performance by dismissing Dhruv Jurel at slips.
No. 3 Shubman Gill started his innings slow and found it difficult to take strike during the crease stay of 2 hours. Just when he started to get a little comfortable, he was caught at gully by Navdeep Saini off a short of a length delivery on the score of 28. Navdeep celebrated this wicket with enthusiasm.
A little before the interval, a rare sight of spin bowling was seen from both ends at WACA, when Washington Sundar and Tanush Kotian were bowling together. The batting side was at the score of 106 for 5 till the break after 28 overs.
