'Wish I could walk into Dravid's shoes': Ashwin on chances of Kohli missing both warm-up games in Perth

Rohit Sharma-led India arrived in Australia early this month, for the forthcoming T20 World Cup 2022 edition. India will start their campaign versus Pakistan on October 23 at the iconic MCG, Melbourne. Before that, the Indian team is trying to get accustomed to the conditions and pitches in Australia. Thus, they are playing two practice T20Is versus Western Australia XI at The WACA, Perth before playing two warm-up encounters, versus Australia and New Zealand respectively.

In the first practice T20I versus the Western Australia XI, Rohit & Co. opted to bat first and posted 158 for 6, riding on Suryakumar Yadav's 52 and vital contributions from Deepak Hooda and Hardik Pandya. In reply, the opposition managed 145 for 8 courtesy of Arshdeep Singh's 3 for 6 and contributions from Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Harshal Patel. The clash didn't see the likes of R Ashwin, KL Rahul and Virat Kohli. The trio are expected to feature in the second and final practice T20I, before the action moves to the warm-up games.

After the match, Ashwin interacted with the reporters. The wily off-spinner was asked about Kohli and whether he will appear in the second practice game at Perth. To this, the senior spinner gave a witty reply. "I wish I could walk into Rahul Dravid's shoes one day and answer that question, but as of now, your guess is as good as mine," Ashwin told reporters after the match.

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India are placed in Pool B, along with Pakistan, Bangladesh, South Africa whereas two more teams will join from the qualifiers. Given that Men in Blue faltered in last year's edition, bowing out in the Super 12 round, Rohit & Co. will be eager to go the distance this time around and clinch their second title, after 2007.

Squad:Rohit Sharma (c), KL Rahul (vc), Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Deepak Hooda, Rishabh Pant (wicketkeeper), Dinesh Karthik (wicketkeeper), Hardik Pandya, R Ashwin, Yuzvendra Chahal, Axar Patel, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Harshal Patel, Arshdeep Singh.