Fans will no longer be allowed at India’s practice sessions in the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) Test series against Australia after fans passed ‘rude’ comments during the team’s training in Adelaide ahead of the second Test starting on Friday. The practice session was thrown open to fans on Tuesday.
While a handful of them gathered to watch Australia, thousands converged to catch the Indian team live in action from close quarters as the practice facility stands in Adelaide are very close to the nets.
“It was complete chaos. During the Australian training session, not more than 70-odd people turned up but during India’s session, 3000 came. No one expected so many fans to turn up,” a senior BCCI official told PTI news agency.
India has banned fans from its training sessions for the rest of the summer.
But it’s not just about being secretive – amid claims they were getting “requests for selfies” and “mocked or laughed at” during a jam-packed Adelaide Oval session >> https://t.co/EDIRdHXq6W pic.twitter.com/s40NIZhRRy
— Fox Cricket (@FoxCricket) December 4, 2024
“There was another fans’ day in Sydney (ahead of the fifth Test) which stands cancelled as players were very disturbed by the rude and insensitive comments that were passed (here),” he added.
An eye-witness said that fans badgered the likes of Rohit Sharma and Rishabh Pant to hit sixes and passed comments on the fitness of another player. “Virat (Kohli) and Shubman Gill could have been mobbed because of so many people. Some were doing Facebook live with friends and talking loudly just as the batter took stance,” he said.
“One supporter continuously urged a player to say ‘hi’ to him in Gujarati. Another particular cricketer was body-shamed.”
The game in Adelaide will be a day-night Test, followed by matches in Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney.
Meanwhile, gearing up for his first Day-Night Test, senior India batter KL Rahul has figured out that the pink Kookaburra comes at a quicker pace, hits the hands harder while fielding and picking it from the bowler’s hand is pretty tricky. Keen that he continues to do well Down Under, Rahul, who starred in India’s 295-run Test victory with a second innings knock of 77 runs, is trying to pick as many cues as possible from the nets.
“Ball seems a bit more harder than the red ball and while fielding also, you can feel the ball hits your hands a lot quicker and harder,” Rahul said.
“Same with batting, it seems to get to you much quicker than the red ball and does seam around a bit more than the red ball. That’s the challenge we are looking forward to. Since this is my first Pink ball game I am going in with a clean slate, go there and see what comes my way,” Rahul added.
There has been some chatter in dressing room about how it is a bit tricky to pick the shiny pink ball from a bowler’s hands. “If you look at pink ball, it tells you that it hasn’t lasted a long time and there will be lot of help for the fast bowlers and that we had in Perth on day one also, lot of seam movement,” he observed.
