Maxwell, Stoinis spotted in Ahmedabad as Australia white-ball specialists prepare for ODIs

Ahmedabad: Australia’s white-ball specialists have joined the squad and were training at the practice facility of the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. The ODI series is still six days away and the fourth Test between India and Australia is still underway but the management has decided to help the white-ball players acclimatise before the 50-over fixtures get underway in Mumbai on 19 March.

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Before Lunch was called in Ahmedabad, Glenn Maxwell was seen putting in the hard yards in the practice area, where the two teams had trained ahead of the fourth Test. He had net bowlers for company and chose to keep the mood light with music blaring from a Bluetooth speaker. No pictures or videos were allowed of the session but there were no restrictions on casual viewing.

“Sir no videos allowed. The team is training, else I would have allowed you. You can watch from outside but no recording is allowed. I hope you understand,” very politely, a rarity at Indian venues, the security guard informed me.

Maxwell was the only player in the practice nets as the rest went through their drills in the practice oval near the net area. Casual sprints turned intense, timed on the clock, as the session approached the close. Warm-up done, the contingent, led by Australian all-rounder Marcus Stoinis then made their way to join Maxwell.

All-rounder Maxwell is returning from a leg injury and still had light strapping around the right knee. One of the net bowlers informed that he did bat and the youngsters were enjoying the star player’s company. His fitness will be a key area for the Australian management who have fair few concerns before the ODIs.

Jhye Richardson has been ruled out of the series due to a hamstring injury and Josh Hazlewood, who returned home midway through the Tests against India, is also not available. India too is sweating over the fitness of Shreyas Iyer who didn’t come out to bat during the Ahmedabad Test. A BCCI communication stated that he will take no part in the remainder of the Test and is not a definite starter for the ODIs.

The first match of the three-ODI series starts in Mumbai on 19 March before action moves to Visakhapatnam for the second ODI. The final match of the series, and Australia’s long tour, will be played in Chennai on 22 March. Not many players would be heading home after that as the IPL would be around the corner and most players, from both camps, will join their respective teams for the league.

Squads:

India: Rohit Sharma (Captain), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Suryakumar Yadav, K L Rahul, Ishan Kishan (wk), Hardik Pandya (Vice-captain), Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Washington Sundar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Mohd. Shami, Mohd. Siraj, Umran Malik, Shardul Thakur, Axar Patel, Jaydev Unadkat.

Australia: Pat Cummins (c), Sean Abbott, Ashton Agar, Alex Carey, Cameron Green, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Marnus Labuschagne, Mitchell Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Marcus Stoinis, David Warner, Adam Zampa

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