Black veil of secrecy: India begin training in privacy in Perth

While the shiny 60,000-seat Optus Stadium, the site of the series-opener in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, takes centre stage in Perth these days, the WACA ground - that old warhorse located on the opposite bank of the Swan River - remains the spiritual home of Western Australian cricket.

Walk along Braithwaite Street in East Perth and you pass the famed WACA nets where there is the familiar sight of cricketers - ranging from state to junior players - going through the paces.

But on Tuesday it was rather an eyesore, with the nets completely covered by black shade cloth that snaked around near a construction site amid the ground's major redevelopment, which is expected to be completed before next season.

It was day one of India's tour of Australia and the secrecy was reminiscent of their last visit to Perth during the 2022 T20 World Cup when a similar effort to thwart prying eyes took place. On that occasion, however, India did play two matches against a WA XI side that attracted near capacity crowds with the entry fee donated to the WA Cricket Foundation.

This time around India have opted for total privacy, though the BCCI clarified* that no instruction was given by the team to the WACA stadium authorities or the media that Wednesday's training would be behind closed doors.

As ESPNcricinfo had reported earlier in the month, India opted to scrap a three-day intra-squad game - which would have been played behind closed doors - at the WACA from November 15 to 17 and instead the squad will train during those three days.

It was unclear exactly what their training plans are this week, but India decided to get to work quickly having had staggered arrivals into Perth at the weekend. After the WACA ground staff spent Tuesday morning getting the nets into shape, India arrived in the early afternoon to a quiet reception with only a sprinkling of fans greeting them off the team bus.

The WACA was in a state of "lockdown", as splashed around the media, although perhaps slightly alarmist as its front gates were open and staff strolled in and out. But staff - with the ground doubling as WA Cricket's headquarters - and construction workers have been told not to film or take photos of the training sessions.

While the massive tarp obscured most of the public view, there were several vantage points along Nelson Crescent - right behind the batters in the nets. The secret training session suddenly became a free for all although onlookers had to take turns standing along a retaining wall with limited space.

India's net session lasted a few hours on Tuesday, but experienced players such as Virat Kohli, Jasprit Bumrah, Ravindra Jadeja and R Ashwin were not present. Among those in the nets were Rishabh Pant, Yashasvi Jaiswal and KL Rahul. They faced around six deliveries at a time and spent about an hour in total in the nets.

With fast and bouncy conditions expected at Optus Stadium, the WACA nets are hoped to acclimatise India's batters. Several local Perth club quicks, undoubtedly selected for their pace, unleashed hostile bowling with a back of a length seemingly encouraged. But bouncers were rare.

Jaiswal was intent on aggression and one of his mighty blows cleared the nets and sailed onto Braithwaite Street which at that time of day is usually teeming with cars and students around the nearby school. Fortunately, the street was momentarily quiet as a keen fan scurried to pocket a memento. Pant was in fluent touch but did cop a blow to his body, while another fierce delivery also hit his bat flush and flew out of his hands. He glanced at the onlookers, some of whom giggled, and sported a wry smile.

With Kohli not around on Tuesday, Pant became the main attraction although perhaps in an indication of cricket's standing in an Australian-rules-football-obsessed city, many locals didn't seem to know who he was.

"Do you know which one is Pant?" an exasperated photographer asked me. "I thought I've been shooting him, but it's actually Jaiswal!"