Tribune News Service
Deepankar Sharda
Mohali, September 17
A day after landing in India, the Australian cricket team hit the nets here tonight at the IS Bindra PCA stadium. The Oz squad sweated hard at the match venue three days before facing India in the opening T20 draw of the tour’s three-match series.
Indian team reaches the city
The Indian cricket team reached Chandigarh on Saturday. Although few players arrived here in the morning, skipper Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, who has an amazing record including playing his 100th test match in March this year, arrived in Mohali, Hardik Pandya, Surya Kumar Yadav and others in the evening. The Indian team will be training here for the first time on Sunday afternoon.
Battle for tickets continues
The Indian cricket team reached Chandigarh on Saturday. Although few players arrived here in the morning, skipper Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, who has an amazing record of performance including playing his 100th test match in March this year, arrived in Mohali, Hardik Pandya, Surya Kumar Yadav and others in the evening. The Indian team will be training here for the first time on Sunday afternoon.
Australian T20 records in Mohali
Played: 2 matches
Won: 1; Lost: 1
Highest totals: 193/4 against Pakistan in 2016 and 160/6 against India in 2016
The T20 match between India and Australia is scheduled for the evening of September 20.
The entire Australian team spent nearly four hours in the stadium from 4.30pm onwards for batting, bowling, fielding and catching practice and conditioning. Aussie batsmen favored fast net bowlers, perhaps to prepare against India’s terrifying pace battery led by Mohammed Shami, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Jasprit Bumrah.
Smith first to the nets
Steve Smith, whose highest score on this field is 61 (not out) (scored against Pakistan in 2016), was the first to attend the net’s session. One of the squad’s most experienced players, Smith was caught wearing pacers, spending most of the time on nets. In addition to facing the local net bowlers, Pat Cummings was the main bowler for Smith on Saturday night.
All eyes on David
As the Australian team practiced on the nets, all eyes were on Timothy Hays David, better known as T20 League superstar Tim David, who is expected to make his international debut against India. The middle-class batsman is known for his wonders in T20 competitions around the world. David, who is 6.5ft tall, has attracted a lot of attention during the recent season of the IPL, where he scored 186 runs in eight games for Mumbai Indians. Even on Saturday night, David was seen opening his arms to hold on to his reputation as a ‘big hitter’.
