On Thursday, It was raining once again in Sydney which forced Team India to make changes to their preparations for the first ODI against Australia which will be played on January 12. India’s practice sessions commenced on Thursday as the complete squad hit the nets together for the first time since the home series against West Indies in November. But rain played spoilsport as Indian players had to practice indoors at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG).
Former Indian skipper, MS Dhoni was seen batting in the nets along with Ambati Rayudu, both of whom had reached Sydney along with the rest of the ODI squad on Tuesday. The first match will be played in Sydney on January 12, the second game will be in Adelaide on January 15 while the third and the final ODI will be played in Melbourne on January 18.
When it's raining outdoors, we switch to indoors 💪💪#AUSvIND pic.twitter.com/pkWBcyygtM
— BCCI (@BCCI) January 10, 2019
On Wednesday, it was bright and sunny and hence, players like Dhoni, Shikhar Dhawan, Kedar Jadhav, and Ambati Rayudu broke sufficient amount fo sweat at an optional training session with batting coach Sanjay Bangar but they had to change their plans on Thursday.
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The quartet primarily took throwdowns as no specialist bowlers from the squad were present for this optional session. While Dhawan and Rayudu prepared with both the right and left arm throwdown specialists, Dhoni worked in the indoor nets with assistant coach Sanjay Bangar. Jadhav alternated between the two nets’ options.
Snapshots from #TeamIndia's optional training session ahead of the 1st ODI against Australia. pic.twitter.com/HDuR3hDcja
— BCCI (@BCCI) January 9, 2019
With India having just 13 ODI before the 2019 ODI World Cup, the team management’s focus has firmly shifted to white-ball cricket with the arrival of limited-overs’ specialists.
The Indian team has a long white-ball season lined up ahead of the marquee tournament in England this summer, with three ODIs in Australia and another five ODIs in New Zealand along with a three-match T20I series there as well.
Australia then will be visiting India for a return leg of five ODIs and two T20Is, before the 2019 Indian Premier League (IPL)e season gets underway on March 23.
