India's first closed-doors practice at WACA attracts unwanted attention

After landing in Australia on Monday and resting on Tuesday, the Indian team on their tour of Australia, opted to practise behind closed doors on November 13 (Wednesday). 

However, if they were expecting to go unnoticed in the black veil surrounding the practise nets, it did no good as the blackness around the Brathwaite Street at the Western Australia Cricket Association (WACA) ground attracted more attention than it would have otherwise. The venue for the first Test is not WACA, but Optus Stadium, located 4 km away across the Swan river. 

A similar situation occurred during the T20 World Cup in 2022 when the Indian team decided to practise behind closed doors. But on that occasion, the team at least engaged in practice games against Western Australia that attracted capacity crowds.

This time, they have gone all sush, even cancelling the inter-squad three-day match with India A team members who travelled to Australia ahead of the senior men’s team and played two four-day unofficial Tests. 

India may have tried to lock down the WACA for their 'secret training' ahead of the first test in Perth but the #7NEWS drone got a sneak peak from above. @7Cricket pic.twitter.com/3pOuE3Ckzy

— Simon Hydzik (@simonhydzik) November 13, 2024

Keen fans were seen roaming around the Brathwaite street for vantage points as would be readily available otherwise with the nets being in the close vicinity of the street. But this time around, it was not an easy job and with a security guard on patrol, it just got all the more difficult. 

Inside #TeamIndia's nets session with Batting Coach - Vikram Rathour, Bowling Coach - Paras Mhambrey & Fielding Coach - T Dilip. pic.twitter.com/L8E3yosSbT

— BCCI (@BCCI) October 10, 2022

However, fans were delighted after the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) posted the first training session pictures and videos showcasing great superstars of the Indian team like Virat Kohli and Jasprit Bumrah engulfed in full-fledged training. 

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