Australian Deputy Foreign Minister Tim Watts was delighted to meet Virat Kohli and the Indian team at Parliament House in Canberra. The Indian team visited Parliament House at the invitation of Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese ahead of a two-day practice match at the Manuka Stadium in Canberra. During the meet and greet session, Albanese and other Australian politicians clicked pictures with Kohli and the rest of the team. Watts took to Instagram to reveal that he is a huge fan of Kohli and his IPL franchise Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB).
“I told @virat.kohli that I support @royalchallengers.bengaluru at @iplt20 because this is the only opportunity I can legally go to the barracks for him. I want to give him the best I can offer to international cricketers. Kudos to him, it was great to see him play like an Australian, of course he wasn’t like that when he played against Australia…” Watts wrote in a lengthy post on Instagram.
Meanwhile, the toss for the Premier’s XI’s two-day warm-up match was delayed by rain in Canberra.
The two days will be ideal preparation for the Indian team ahead of the second Test against Australia in Adelaide, which will also be a day-night affair.
However, the first session on the first day was completely aborted due to bad weather.
On Saturday, Australia’s Josh Hazlewood was ruled out of the second Test of the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy against India due to a side strain.
Australia have included Sean Abbott and Brendan Doggett in the squad, both of whom are uncapped at Test level. However, Scott Boland is expected to replace Josh Hazlewood in the playing XI for the day-night Test.
According to a statement from Cricket Australia, Hazlewood suffered a “low-grade left-side injury” and will remain with the team in Adelaide to focus on his recovery. He will remain with the group in Adelaide to prepare for the remainder of the series.
This marks Hazlewood’s first absence from a home Test against India. It also means that for the first time since the 2015 Sydney Test, Australia will be without one of their four stalwarts – Hazlewood, Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins and Nathan Lyon – in a home Border-Gavaskar Trophy match. The quartet played together in the ninth consecutive home Test against India.
(including ANI input)
Topics mentioned in this article
