Virat Kohli, Rishabh pant once again fail to impress in the intra squad match before the Perth test

As Team India prepares for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, the players engage in an intra-squad match simulation on Friday at WACA Stadium in Perth. It was revealed that KL Rahul opened the innings alongside Yashasvi Jaiswal, with superstar batsmen including Virat Kohli and Rishabh Pant following suit. Nevertheless, the talented Indian batsmen failed against the India A bowling attack.

Pant the wicketkeeper-batter, as reported by ESPNcricinfo, was bowled out twice in the match simulation and was also subject to pressure from bowlers who bowled bouncers. They managed to trouble him in those bouncers, but he looked fresh for a fleeting while as he had suffered a groin issue. After hitting a few fours, Nitish Kumar Reddy bowled him out.

The report also added that Pant had faced a lot of issues with shorter deliveries during the practice sessions. After the last break, two players, Pant and Kohli, were subjected to short stuff by Prasidh Krishna and Reddy. It was an awful start for the former captain of India, who later batted for an hour and ended with 30 runs. On the contrary, Pant batted aggressively until Mukesh Kumar bowled him off his stumps.

With Rohit Sharma’s fitness for the Perth Test still uncertain, KL Rahul and Yashasvi Jaiswal however opened the batting in the intra-squad match. As this report says, Rahul appeared composed as he dealt with the short balls before a bouncer from Prasidh Krishna hit him on the elbow. The 32-year-old player went off the field and did not come back for the rest of the day.

In the meantime, Jaiswal was aggressive, hitting a few pleasing drives, but he was dismissed when he cut one to second slip.

Gill and Jaiswal came back as the leading run scorers of the Indian team. Both the young batters started off on an attacking note but later on played safe. The left-handed batsman reportedly looked the most at ease against the bouncers and played the spinners with more intent. Gill remained not out at 52 while Jaiswal scored 42 not out.