Canberra: Indian bowling failed to make much of an impression as Cricket Australia Chairman’s XI dominated the opening day of their two-day practice match, making 398 for six declared at the Manuka Oval, here on Thursday.
Regular skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni opted against playing the match and Rahul Dravid took over the captaincy in his absence.
Electing to field after winning the toss, the Indians started off strongly but the CAC XI wriggled out of the tight situation through contrasting centuries by opener Wes Robinson (143) and Tom Cooper (182 not out) to blunt the visiting attack.
Even though the Indians struck back in the final hour, the CAC XI had all but exposed the weaknesses of an Indian attack when it takes the field without the experience of Zaheer Khan.
Young pacer Umesh Yadav was the first to strike when he had CAC XI skipper Ryan Broad (8) caught behind by Wriddhimaan in the 10th over.
Umesh, in fact, managed to create an impression by scalping three wickets in miserly 15 overs conceding just 39 runs.
CAC XI looked in trouble at lunch with the scoreboard reading 53/2 but Robinson and Cooper started a slow recovery, building 226-run prtnership for the third wicket.
The two batsmen frustrated the Indian attack, which was hampered further when pacer Ishant Sharma walked off the field after completing just 5.3 overs. It was not clear just why Ishant was taken off the field.
‘No injury worries for Ishant Sharma’
The Indian team management quelled concerns over Ishant Sharma’s fitness after the pacer walked off bowling just 5.3 overs on the opening day of their first practice match against Cricket Australia Chairman’s XI on Thursday.
Team officials insisted that Sharma merely needed to remove some strapping from his ankle that had loosened and become uncomfortable.
They further added that since Sharma was slated to bowl only six overs in this match, there was little point strapping him up again for the remaining three balls.
The team’s media manager said there was no injury while another member from the support staff said that the interruption had more to do with team’s hectic last 24 hours.(PTI)
