Seven Indian players—comeback man Yuvraj Singh,
Virat Kohli,
Bhuvneshwar Kumar,
Ishant Sharma,
Shikhar Dhawan, Amit Mishra and local boy
Jaydev Unadkat—had net sessions for over two hours.
The other players, including skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni, were scheduled to arrive tonight. The Australian team, who practiced in Mumbai's Cricket Club of India after landing in the country last Saturday, was also slated to reach the city by the same flight.
Meanwhile, BCCI Curator for Western Region Dhiraj Parsana said the Rajkot pitch was full of runs. “This is a good batting track and the wicket is full of runs. It will help batsmen to score runs freely,” he said. “It's a flat wicket and therefore any score over 170 would be a fighting total.”
The first four to five overs of the match would help seamers and then the wicket will become flat and easy for batting, Parsana said.
But local pitch curator Rasik Makwana said even 200 runs would not be safe total on this track. “This is a batting paradise and even 200 plus runs would not be easy to defend.” Both teams are scheduled to practice tomorrow morning, SCA Media Manager Himanshu Shah said.
