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It was a memorable day for some fans as cricket lovers from all over the country were allowed to witness their favourite stars sweating it out in nets ahead of the second Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy between India and Australia at Adelaide Oval.
The Adelaide test will kickstart from December 6 onwards, with India heading into the game with a mental and physical edge over the Aussies who were left devastated by Bumrah's bowling and captaincy during a 295-run loss at Perth's Optus Stadium in the first Test. However, the visitors would be looking to overcome the ghosts of the 2020 Adelaide pink-ball Test, which saw them being bundled out for their lowest Test score of 36 runs, starting that series on a nightmarish note. Pat Cummins (4/21) and Josh Hazlewood (5/8) had run riot over the Indian line-up in the second innings, getting an easy target of 90 runs to chase. There is an atmosphere of excitement, great anticipation and optimism among Australian fans, who are very keen on seeing their superstar players in action. They are also positive of their team bouncing back after a humiliating 295-run loss at Adelaide. Speaking to ANI, A fan named Jason said, "Oh, beautiful (the practice session). That, um, the Cricket Australia let the public come and see the players train. I think it is outstanding. So, um, hopefully, uh, we get a win on Friday. India were far too good in Perth, but hopefully, our boys can regroup and do us proud." Another fan named Daniel Clark said that it was great witnessing players train. "Hopefully we can bounce back," he added. Two young children, Eli and Flynn had also turned up to watch their favourite cricketers in action. "They look in pretty good touch," said Eli. Flynn was also happy to have witnessed the sight of Aussies players bowling to each other. A fan named Bilal is looking forward to a series-equalling win for the Aussies, saying, "I mean, so far, so good, but looking forward for a 1-1 series, that's all I think." After completing their practice, some players, including openers Usman Khawaja and skipper Pat Cummins, took out time to interact with fans, click pictures and sign bats, shirts etc for them. Australia squad (for second Test): Pat Cummins (c), Scott Boland, Alex Carey (wk), Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Mitch Marsh, Nathan McSweeney, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Beau Webster India squad: Rohit Sharma (c), Jasprit Bumrah (vc), Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Devdutt Padikkal, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant, Sarfaraz Khan, Dhruv Jurel, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Siraj, Akash Deep, Prasidh Krishna, Harshit Rana, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar. Reserves: Mukesh Kumar, Navdeep Saini, Khaleel Ahmed, Yash Dayal. (ANI)
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