Australia’s bid to learn more about the Nagpur pitch on which they were humiliated during the first Test was stymied by ground staff.
The tourists were hoping to train on the surface at VCA Stadium to make up for the early conclusion to their innings loss.
However they were forced to cancel a session hours beforehand when it was revealed the pitch had been watered just hours after the conclusion of play on day three.
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The Aussies had asked for the pitch to be kept as is so they could practice again right after the loss on Saturday. Either there was a miscommunication or the request was ignored.
Australian coach Andrew McDonald told SEN the session was not “naughty boy nets” but an attempt to learn more about the “extreme” conditions.
“It’s pretty clear isn’t it, their intent with the surfaces they want to play on. We were expecting that coming in so as I said before, we’ve been really clear on what we expected,” he said.
“When we got here we got exactly that. They’re not naughty boy nets today (the planned session). We’ve got a big squad of 17 players so there’s different people on different training programs.
“There’ll be a couple of players from the game that will come down, so they’ll be seen at training. But it’s certainly not naughty boy nets, it’s just preparing for the next game.”
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The Aussies flew left-arm spinner Matt Kuhnemann over following the first Test, replacing Mitch Swepson who is heading home for the birth of his child, with multiple changes potentially on the cards for the second Test in Delhi.
Among the discussions are dumping David Warner and bringing back Travis Head, surprisingly dropped for the first Test, but as an opener.
The Border-Gavaskar Trophy series continues on Thursday.