Canberra rain robs India of pink-ball practice on Day 1 of warm-up game against Australia PM’s XI | Cricket News

Manuka Oval (Photo: @BCCI on X)

NEW DELHI: Continuous drizzle in Canberra on Saturday robbed India of much needed pink-ball practice on day one of their two-day warm-up fixture at the Manuka Oval against Australia Prime Minister’s XI, ahead of the day-night second Test in Adelaide.
To accommodate both batting and bowling practice for India, day two will see a 50-overs-a-side game if weather permits. The forecast for Sunday as of now shows a 70% chance of rain.
The game is yet to see the toss happening.

The warm-up fixture is the first opportunity for skipper Rohit Sharma to acclimatize to the conditions in a match situation, having missed the first Test. He joined the team midway through the match in Perth, after being on a paternity leave following the birth of his second child.
The game is also a chance for Indian pacers like Prasidh Krishna and Akash Deep to bowl with the pink ball in Australian conditions for the first time.

However, covers hardly came off the square for more than four hours before the umpires consulted the ground staff and decided to call off the day.
India won the first Test in Perth by 295 runs to take a 1-0 lead in the five-Test Border Gavaskar Trophy.
Winning four of the five Tests will give India an outright qualification for the ICC World Test Championship final, which is scheduled for June next year at Lord’s.