Team India’s tour match against Cricket Australia XI has been extended to a four-day game, at the request of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). The match, which will be played at the Sydney Cricket Ground from November 28, was originally scheduled as a three-day but after some push from the BCCI to have a better preparation ahead of the Test series has resulted in the said decision from CA.

Describing the same, a CA spokesperson said, “We can confirm the tour match between the Cricket Australia XI and India at the Sydney Cricket Ground will now be a four-day match, starting on November 28. We have worked with the BCCI around a request for additional match preparation for their team ahead of the four-match Domain Test Series against Australia, and were happy to accommodate this by scheduling an extra day as part of this fixture, at the same venue of the fourth Test match of the series.”

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A CA XI squad is yet to be named, with Usman Khawaja possibly making a return to prove his fitness after knee surgery on an injury he picked up during Australia’s Test series against Pakistan in UAE. Five Indian players, Prithvi Shaw, Ajinkya Rahane, Parthiv Patel, Hanuma Vihari and Murali Vijay, are playing against New Zealand A and they will fly to Sydney on Tuesday to join coaching and support staff to prepare for the game against a Cricket Australia XI.

All five featured in India A’s four-day encounter against New Zealand A in Mount Maunganui which concluded on Monday. While the young prodigy scored 62 and 50 in his knocks, Vihari returned with 86 and 51 not out.

Vijay, who returned to the Test side post being dropped in England, notched up 28 and 60, and Rahane made 12 and an unbeaten 41. Backup wicketkeeper Parthiv Patel scored a valiant 94 in the first innings in the game, which eventually ended in a draw.