The Indian cricket team decided to not play a single practice match ahead of the Test series against Australia but the cricketers are taking part in a secret training camp in Perth, according to a report by The West Australian. The report revealed that the WACA ground in Perth is currently under lockdown and public viewing has been barred to keep the practice sessions under wraps. Heavy restrictions have also been imposed on the staff including phone use. India will also undergo match simulation in order to prepare for the first Test match starting November 22.
The decision to play the practice match against India A was taken following the series loss against New Zealand at home. The series whitewash resulted in a lot of criticism from both fans and experts alike.
Rohit explained the reason why India did not opt for any practice game.
"Look, you know, rather than practice match, we planned a very match simulation kind of a thing with India A," he said.
"I think sometimes when you play that practice match, we're travelling with a squad of 19 players and it was only three days that were allotted to us. And I don't know how much workload we can get done in those three days in terms of getting everyone prepared."
"So we, as a management as well, we feel that rather than having that, the match simulation where the batters can spend more time in the middle, batting in the middle, and then the bowlers as well can bowl a lot of balls, so that is something that, we as a team feel more comfortable doing rather than playing a practice game because game time is not a problem. All of us have been playing a lot of cricket. So it's just about spending time in the middle," he explained.