This pink-ball Test has India well prepared for issues from their previous encounter in Australia Australia faces a day-night game against the Prime Minister’s XI at Manuka Oval. The two-day match is slated for November 30 and December 1, between their first Test in Perth (November 22-26) and the second day-night Test at Adelaide from December 6 to10.
It gives Rohit Sharma’s team the opportunity to get acquainted with a pink Kookaburra ball once again, something they haven’t used in Test matches for over two years. An important little warm up pre Adelaide for India where they slumped to an all-time low of 36 / in a day-night Test on their tour.
Enter the three-day night match between Australia A and India at SCG ahead of their pink-ball Test in Adelaide last time around. But that match did not have their then captain Virat Kohli and key player Cheteshwar Pujara. No Indian batter managed to score 50 in the first innings, and Australia dismissed them for a paltry total of just before end of day’s play.
India against Sri Lanka in Bangalore early this year was last day-night Test India played. India have only been a four pink-ball Tests old, compared to Australia’s 11 (the hosts played the first such arrangement in 2015 at home against New Zealand).
For the first time this year, a Prime Minister’s XI match will be played. India has met a PM’s XI three times before in Australia, but never over two days. Up until a few years ago, all PM’s XI games had been one-dayers. The Prime Minister Anthony Albanese concluded with four-day 2022 and 2023 PM’s XI games against the West Indies (draw) or Pakistan (draw).
Prime minister Albanese said the cricketing bond between Australia and India was “something of a sacred space … this is another instance that will go down forever in history”.
It will serve as a useful warm-up practice for the second Test of Border-Gavaskar Trophy to be played under lights with a pink ball in Adelaide. It also gives Australia’s selectors a chance to evaluate potential additions for the national side.
It was a mere audition for David Warner as questions still lingered about his cricketing future, but even if that could be mended he scored 0 and eight in the last Test against Pakistan)…this time it will serve notice on openers Cameron Bancroft (10 at Manchester), Marcus Harris (13 runs across two innings) or Matthew Renshaw. As a result, Renshaw went on to make 136 not out and was selected in Australia’s Test side soon after.
The Prime Minister’s XI has a 2-1 win-loss record against Indian touring teams in the classic afternoon start to the season, pre-beta experiment of day-nighters__all one-day games – prior to Tuesday night. However, notable past visits involve the 1991 Allan Border led team holding names of future legends like Shane Warne and Matthew Hayden along with the century scored by Andrew Symonds in a game that marked similar departure by Steve Waugh as seen over here.
The UFC likes to go big in Las Vegas and Manuka Oval booms with the sound of leather on willow so why not a two-day pink-ball game. Cricket Australia CEO Nick Hockley discusses the importance of this year’s match and an exciting summer of cricket.