India were due to face India A in a three-day practice match ahead of the first Test in Perth on November 22, but Rohit confirmed the team has since canceled that competition in favor of a mock game against the same team that would allow their batters. to maximize their time in the middle and get used to Australian conditions.

“Look, you know, rather than practicing for a match, we planned a sort of mock match with India A,” he said. “I think sometimes when you play a practice match, we travel with a team of 19 players and only three days have been given to us. And I don’t know how much workload we can accomplish in those three days. terms of preparation of everyone.

“So we, as a management also, think that instead of having that, the match simulation where the batters can spend more time in the middle, batting down the middle, and then the bowlers can also bowl a lot of balls , So this is something that we as a team feel more comfortable with rather than playing a practice match, because playing time is not a problem We have all played. a lot in cricket so it’s just about spending time in the middle.

“If a hitter comes out, he has to sit in the dugout all day, you know, and he doesn’t do a lot of at-bats. Whereas in game simulation, you know, hitters can go out and play 50 at 70 balls and then if you feel like he’s had enough we can take him out and then bring someone else in. So that’s the plan.

“We want to maximize this three-day window that we have and I think this is the best way to do it because the batters can have a lot of time in the middle and the bowlers can at the same time concentrate their workload in terms of getting the number of balls thrown in the middle So that was the idea and we’ll do that.

“I think we will train at WACA, which is also close to Optus (stadium) where you have that bounce and carry. So hopefully we can use those three days perfectly and maximize everything we can from our point of view.”