India's Top Secret BGT Training Camp Shrouded in Secrecy During WACA Lockdown, Strict Limits on Phone Usage

Virat Kohli was the first member of the Indian Test squad to arrive in Perth, the venue for the Border-Gavaskar Test series opener scheduled for November 22. He arrived on Sunday, two weeks ahead of the much-anticipated contest against Australia. The rest of the squad joined him on Monday. However, there has been no update yet on the availability of India captain Rohit Sharma for the series opener at the Optus Stadium.

According to a report in The West Australian, the WACA ground is currently under lockdown, reminiscent of how it looked when India reached Perth during the 2022 T20 World Cup in Australia. It was covered with nets, thus barring public viewing, and heavy restrictions have been imposed on staff, including phone use.

India were slated to play a practice game against the Ruturaj Gaikwad-led India A side, who were already in Australia for their two-match unofficial red-ball series against Australia A. However, BCCI cancelled the match following the home Test series whitewash against New Zealand, in a bid to avoid last-minute injuries.

India rather opted for a centre-wicket training with India A, implying that the first match they will play in Australia will be the Perth opener of the Border-Gavaskar series.

The decision was taken ahead of the loss against New Zealand in the Mumbai Test and captain Rohit explained the reason behind it. "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."

India A, which comprises a few members of the main Test squad and some leading performers from the first-class season, recently completed their series against Australia A, where they lost in both matches, in Mackay and Melbourne over the last fortnight. Rohit is however hopeful that the match simulation at WACA, which is less than three kilometres away from the Optus Stadium, will provide India with a decent prep for the series.

"If a batter gets out, he has to sit in the dugout for the whole day, you know, and he doesn't get too much of batting done," Rohit said. "Whereas in match simulation kind of a thing, you know, the batters can go out and play 50-70 balls and then if you feel that he's had enough, we can retire him out and then get someone else in. So that is the plan.

"We want to maximise this three-day slot that we've got and I feel this is the best way to do it where the batters can have a lot of time in the middle and the bowlers at the same time can get their workload in terms of getting the number of balls bowled in the middle. So that was the idea and we will be."