3 reasons why India cancelling practice match vs India A before BGT 2024-25 is the wrong move
India's road to the Border-Gavaskar series seemed quite clear not so long ago. Now the path is quite hazy, with confidence waning with each passing day, primarily due to India's stern wake-up call at the hands of New Zealand.
A warm-up clash is pretty much a standard and obvious course of preparation whenever the prospect of an away series arises. Recent scheduling has made it near-extinct, but such is its importance, that there is always room to slot at least one of it in.
Along expected lines, India too, had an unofficial contest lined up during the build-up to the series. While usually, it is against one of Australia's domestic setups, this time it was in the form of an intra-squad affair against India 'A', who are already Down Under.
However, the sole warm-up clash was cancelled, according to a report by ESPNCricinfo, and India will head into Perth for the series opener on the back of a few net sessions and match simulation drills.
On that note, let us take a look at three reasons why India cancelling the practice match vs India A before BGT 2024-25 is the wrong move.
#1 No amount of time spent in nets can emulate actual game time
It is sort of a given that actual game time on the ground is preferred and beneficial over routine net sessions. This is why warm-up matches are scheduled in the first place, particularly when it comes to lengthy assignments like tournaments or five-match Test series.
India are coming on the back of five home Tests, and have been mentally drilled to play spin more often than not. The only time they played in conditions that Australia could offer, they were bowled out for 46.
The Men in Yellow have already hinted that they are not going to offer tracks that will ease after the initial burst. Australia have driven home their point with some added hostility by scheduling the first Test at Perth, where India last won in 2008.
With the second Test in Adelaide being a pink-ball affair, another aspect that is lost on India, coupled with the series moving to the infamous Gabba, there is no breathing room at all for India, where they could learn on the job.
India have been second-best at reading the conditions of their own backyard, which is all the more reason for the warm-up game to have been conducted as scheduled.
#2 Warm-up matches have proven to be useful in Australia in the past
Preparation is everything when it comes to dealing with a stark difference in conditions. Due to this, the decision to scrap the warm-up match comes across as a huge surprise, as it basically leads an undercooked India against a well-oiled team in their own backyard.
It was not that long ago that India played two warm-up matches against Western Australia XI, in addition to their official warm-up matches, ahead of the 2022 T20 World Cup. Even in India's previous two red-ball tours of Australia, they have faced off against domestic teams to get acclitamized to the conditions well ahead of the actual series.
These matches have proved to be more than useful as those domestic sides gave India a good, stiff competition, which is arguably the best-form of preparation one can get.
#3 India A would have provided the same challenges that Australia will
There are a lot of similarities between the India 'A' side and the Australian senior team, not in terms of prowess by any means, but just the overall structure. Patient openers (Abhimanyu Easwaran, Usman Khawaja), rock-solid middle-order batters (Sai Sudharsan, Steve Smith), counter-attacking wicket-keepers (Alex Carey, Ishan Kishan), tall and accurate pacers (Mukesh Kumar-Prasidh Krishna; Josh Hazlewood-Pat Cummins).
A warm-up clash against a team of such composition would have helped India be in a better shape while facing the Aussies eventually.
Furthermore, with the current rut, the Indians are in across all fronts, they could have done with the confidence of playing a solid game of cricket on Australia, rather than being straightaway thrown into the Optus Stadium against a side on the lookout for revenge.