Team India has started preparing for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25 at the iconic WACA ground, Perth. However, the stadium has been covered with strict security measures to prevent it from being seen from the outside.

The Men in Blue are believed to be secretly preparing for the upcoming five-match Test series in Australia. Among the players, Virat Kohli was the first player from the squad to arrive in the city. The rest of the team, including the support staff, also arrived in Perth following Kohli’s arrival.

Also Read: Virat Kohli misses India’s first nets session in Australia despite arriving first

Lockdown at WACA as India begins secret training camp

According to a report by The West Australian, the WACA ground in Perth is under strict lockdown to prevent the public from viewing it. Team India is believed to be secretly preparing for the upcoming five-match Test series in Australia.

The stadium was covered in nets and preparations had been made to not allow information to reach the public and media. Not just for the public, there have also been restrictions on the use of phones for staff.

The team will conduct a match simulation at WACA Ground, Perth, to prepare for the first test, which will be played at Optus Stadium in the same city. Earlier, India was scheduled to play a practice match against India A at the WACA ground.

Match simulation instead of practice match.

But the decision was later reversed considering the shorter amount of time to prepare for the series. Captain Rohit Sharma revealed the reason for the change of plans after their loss to New Zealand in the second Test in Pune.

“Look, you know, instead of a practice match, we planned a kind of simulation match with India A. I think sometimes when you play that practice match, we traveled with a team of 19 players and there were only three of us.” days that were allotted to us,” Rohit had said.

“And I don’t know how much workload we can do in those three days in terms of preparing everyone. We’ve all been playing a lot of cricket. So it’s just about spending time in between.”

“So we, as management as well, feel that instead of having that, the match simulation where the batsmen can spend more time in the middle, batting in the middle, and then the bowlers can also bowl a lot of balls, “That’s something that we, as a team, are more comfortable doing instead of playing a practice match because playing time is not an issue,” Rohit said.

The team management is looking to give the players more playing time, so they have opted for a match simulation instead of going to a practice match, in which a player cannot return after leaving once.

India warm-up match after first test

The first Test match will be played on November 22 at the Optus Stadium in Perth. After the first Test, the Men in Blue will play a warm-up match against the Prime Minister’s XI to prepare for the pink ball Test in Adelaide.

The next three Tests will be played in Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney respectively. Rohit Sharma and his men need to win at least four matches in the series to confirm their qualification to the World Test Championship (WTC) final without depending on other results.