Inside India's first (open) training session of the Australian tour

The Border-Gavaskar Trophy holders suppressed suggestions of Cold War-style secrecy and did their level best ahead of a three-day intra-squad hit-out

After several days of clandestine skirmishes, India's mission to retain the Border-Gavaskar Trophy will be launched in earnest tomorrow with the start of a three-day match simulation at the WACA Ground.

Since arriving in Perth in various iterations earlier this week, India's 17-man Test squad (minus captain Rohit Sharma) and the comparable India A side that has already played two first-class matches in Australia have become accustomed to the local conditions.

That included long sessions in the WACA ground nets, with today's hit open to accredited cricket media who suppressed suggestions of Cold War-style secrecy surrounding the tourists' preparation.

It remains unclear whether a similar inquiry will be allowed when the three-day intrasquad 'match' kicks off tomorrow, but India's unprecedented build-up to a campaign in Australia underlines their commitment to retaining the trophy they have held since 2017 .

Australia employed a similar tactic ahead of their 2019 Ashes tour, when two full squads battled it out before the opening match in Southampton, with the key difference being that the intrasquad match informed the subsequent selection of the Test tour party.

Another contrast to that exercise five years ago under then coach Justin Langer will be the conditions at mid-wicket, with WACA's ground staff today putting the finishing touches to what looks like a textbook (albeit green-tinged) Perth- surface.

The pitch produced by the host nation for the Australian selection trial was an atypical English strip, with live grass but bone dry underneath, making stroke play virtually impossible as 17 wickets fell on the first day.

The proposed four-day event barely made it to the third morning as Langer insisted on good match conditions that meant batters who failed had to watch from the sidelines.

India have already predicted in their simulation that batters dismissed cheaply will be allowed to continue their innings to maximize preparation, with opponents chosen with an emphasis on batting or bowling.

That is likely to prove particularly useful for top-order Test batters Yashasvi Jaiswal, Sarfaraz Khan and Abhimanyu Easwaran (the latter a potential opening replacement for Rohit) who have not played first-class cricket on Perth's fast, bouncy courts before.

Jaiswal the Test and IPL batting sensation made his maiden visit to Australia and fellow opener Ruturaj Gaikwad (captain of the India A team) got a crash course in WACA conditions during today's nets session.

A member of the Indian coaching staff stood in the middle of the court with a tennis racket in hand and hit firm volleys with a soft ball to the head and upper body of the duo who repeatedly practiced taking evasive action, followed by a succession of pull shots over the leg side. .

More experienced batters such as Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant and Shubman Gill (the last pair to be part of India's 2-1 series triumph on their previous visit in 2020-21) have reacquainted themselves with the vagaries of the Australian surface, with they especially deliveries bounce above the stumps.

Pace bowlers Jasprit Bumrah, in line to lead India should Rohit's absence extend into the opening Test starting next Friday, Mohammed Siraj and Akash Deep have also fine-tuned the lengths they want to achieve in conditions vastly different from those in their most recent home country. Tests against New Zealand.

It is understood that India's match simulation will be designed to ensure that the best bowlers plus spinners Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja operate when the first-choice batters are in close proximity.

During today's session, a few adventurous India fans climbed the low branches of the plane trees adjacent to the WACA Ground, which provide a vantage point for the practice nets, and some had friendly conversations with their heroes.

However, the crowd that gathered in the WACA precinct was significantly smaller than the groups of autograph hunters who had been stationed outside the team's Perth hotel since the squad arrived.

In addition to today's batting and bowling in the WACA ground nets and fielding exercises in the main arena, visitors were involved in the obligatory round of photos and 'capturing' visions that form part of each host broadcaster's coverage.

These included images of each team member, taken against the backdrop of a huge Indian flag hanging from a crane and waving in the Perth breeze in the early afternoon.

NRMA Insurance Men's Test Series vs India

First test: November 22-26: Perth Stadium, 1.20pm AEDT

Second test: December 6-10: Adelaide Oval, 3pm AEDT (D/N)

Third test: December 14-18: The Gabba, Brisbane, 11:20am AEDT

Fourth test: December 26-30: MCG, Melbourne, 10:30am AEDT

Fifth test: January 3-7: SCG, Sydney, 10:30am AEDT

Australian selection: (first test only) 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

Indian selection: Rohit Sharma (c), Jasprit Bumrah (vc), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, 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