All eyes on Washington

The Australian team practised hard under the blazing sun with all the star players, including its captain Steven Smith and opener David Warner, who missed the first day’s training, having an extended net session. 

The Board President’s XI, meanwhile, has no injury concerns and has a fully fit squad to pick their starting eleven from. All eyes will be on the two local players in all-rounder MS Washington Sundar and left-arm spinner Rahil S Shah. Washington has been in good nick in the TNPL and had also enjoyed a good IPL season with Rising Pune Supergiant. Asked about the composition of the team, coach Hemang Badani said he would pick the team that stands the best chance to compete. 

“We will play the best team. From our perspective, we are treating this match seriously. It might be a practice game for Australia but we will make every effort to win. The youngsters in the team want to get on the selectors’ radar and make their foray into the national team,” said Badani. 

Australian all-rounder James Faulkner said his team knew the task that awaits them. ““Most of the boys have played here in the IPL and T20 World Cup. So those experiences will help us,” Faulkner said after the team’s training session.

President’s XI: Gurkeerat Mann (c), Rahul Tripathi, Mayank Agarwal, Shivam Chaudhary, Washington Sundar, Nitish Rana, Govind Poddar, Shreevats Gowsami, Rahil Shah, Ashkay Karnewar, Kulwant Khejroliya, Kushang Patel, Avesh Khan, Sandeep Sharma 

Australia: Steve Smith (c), David Warner, Ashton Agar, Hilton Cartwright (subject to fitness), Nathan Coulter-Nile, Patrick Cummins, James Faulkner, Travis Head, Glenn Maxwell, Kane Richardson, Marcus Stoinis, Matthew Wade, Adam Zampa.