Team India are done with their match simulation at the WACA Ground in Perth and it was highly beneficial as per the bowling coach Morne Morkel and assistant coach Abhishek Nayar who supervised the whole ordeal.
Notably, the match simulation was added to Team India's training plan in the lead-up to the Border-Gavaskar Trophy opener by scrapping an intra-squad game to ensure that the players get the most out of the time at hand.
In a video shared by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), Nayar revealed the thought process of the entire team management behind conducting match simulation at the WACA. "Just before we came to Australia, Gauti bhai (Gautam Gambhir), Rohit (Sharma), we had a discussion on what we wanted out of these three days. The idea was to try and make sure that for the younger and experienced guys to give them a lot of time in the centre, to adapt, to understand," Nayar said.
"We are coming and playing Test cricket (in Australia) after four years. So initially, we got the guys to come in and had it like a game where you are done once you get out. But then we tried to give them another chance the second time around. We felt that the second time around the guys adapted better, they understood the conditions better, were a lot more comfortable. We got what we wanted out of it."
"Day 2 was about our bowlers coming in and bowling spells, getting up the workloads and bowling 15 overs each. Boom (Jasprit Bumrah) bowled 18 (overs), a couple others bowled 18 (overs). So it was just about getting the guys into game sense," Nayar added.
Team India's bowling coach Morne Morkel was "very happy" with how the bowlers fared during the match simulation.
"Very happy with how the bowlers went. They summed up conditions very well. We are on track for the 22nd (November)," Morkel said.
Morkel also revealed that Team India are willing to train more in the lead-up to the series opener and that the team management would forge a plan for the challenges that lie ahead.
"Another three training sessions left. We'll sit down this afternoon or tomorrow and start planning, looking at game plans and how we are going to bring out the best in each and everyone for game time on the 22nd."
