Western Australia defeated the Indian team by 36 runs in the second unofficial warm-up game. The Indian cricket team was defeated in the second unofficial practice match under the captaincy of KL Rahul. Indians scored 132 runs for the loss of seven wickets against Western Australia’s target of 169 runs. Captain Rahul scored the highest 74 runs for India. While among the bowlers, Ashwin got three wickets, and Harshal got two wickets. Suryakumar Yadav, Virat Kohli, and Yuzvendra Chahal were rested in this match.
Arshdeep Singh gave the first blow to Western Australia in his very first over. But after this Nick Hobson and Darcy Short formed a strong partnership and both players scored half-centuries. Harshal dismissed Hobson, in the same over, Short was also run out and returned to the pavilion. After this, Ashwin got India back in the match by taking three wickets in the same over. After this, Arshdeep gave 8 runs in the 18th over and Bhuvi gave 7 runs with a wicket in the 19th over. Harshal took another wicket for 13 runs in the last over. Chasing Western Australia’s target of 169, India did not have a positive start and Rishabh Pant was dismissed for 9 runs. After this, Deepak Hooda (6), Hardik (17), Axar (2), and Dinesh Karthik (10) returned to the pavilion.
Despite being a part of the playing XI, Indian captain Rohit Sharma did not come out to bat and he gave a chance to the rest of the batsmen. Due to the absence of Virat Kohli and Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant, Dinesh Karthik, and Deepak Hooda were brought up in the batting order. However, they have not been able to take advantage of this opportunity. Except for KL Rahul, none of the Indian batsmen could stay at the crease for long, which resulted in India losing this match by 36 runs.
India made a successful start to their World Cup campaign by winning the previous warm-up match by 13 runs but after a 36-run loss in this match, Rishabh Pant and Deepak Hooda are finding it very difficult to make it to the first XI against Pakistan on 23 October. India’s bowlers bowled well in this match and restricted Western Australia’s score to 168 runs. The batting was disappointing after a good show by the bowlers.
Over the past few months, Indian batting has been in excellent form and the upper-order, middle-order, and lower-order batsmen have shown their strength. At the moment, there are concerns in the bowling for India but the Indian bowlers have done well in the last two matches which are good signs for the World Cup. The 36-run loss against Western Australia is not a matter of much concern for India at the moment as the Indian bowlers have bowled well in both matches.