India in Perth: Tourists still yet to have player front media as Ravi Ashwin makes late press conference swap

The secrecy around India’s training camp is still dominating the build-up to The West Test, just two days out from the first ball. India pulled high-profile spinner Ravichandran Ashwin out of a scheduled press conference at Optus Stadium on Wednesday, with bowling coach Morne Morkel stepping up. Morkel said the call, made within half-an-hour of the press event, was because players were running late and Ashwin needed the time to prepare for their training session. The veteran was among the first players out for India’s net session. It was the first time any Indian official has fronted media publicly since landing in Perth last Sunday, with requests for interviews by The West Australian also denied. And it comes more than a week after India went to ground to start their camp, with The West revealing staff had been banned from using their phones in a drastic lockdown that also included restrictions on construction workers and black tarps being placed around the nets. India has opened the doors to a series of training sessions since, including on Wednesday, where megastar Virat Kohli continued to ramp up his preparation. The powerhouse side is fresh off the embarrassment of a 3-0 whitewash in a home series against New Zealand. Australian fast bowler Josh Hazlewood said India’s bid to keep their plans under the radar did not faze the hosts and that there are “no real secrets in international cricket”. “Nah, you roll up regardless. I don’t think there’s anything we haven’t seen in Test cricket before,” he said. “It’s going to come down to bowling in that area and batting with patience and try and outlast them. “I guess there are no real secrets behind those closed doors of the injury sessions, we have seen a lot of them, we play with them all the time, we play against them. “There’s no real secrets in international cricket these days.” But Morkel, who was thrown up for media despite being just three months into his job, feels there are still things “There is so much information nowadays about players and we play so much cricket,” he said. “Guys sit during the IPL… discussing plans. “(But) at the end of the day it is going to be about sessions and about small margins and we know it’s going to be two great teams playing an attacking brand of cricket, whether or not you can handle that pressure. “In terms of keeping things under wraps, I think it is very hard. Things always find a way to leak and there is a lot of information out there on every player.” India’s starting team for the first Test is one thing that remains a mystery. Rohit Sharma will miss the first Test and Shubman Gill, who broke his thumb training in Perth last week, is also in doubt, but very few hints have been given around who their replacements could be. Hazlewood said a bowler’s planning meeting on Wednesday involved a whole series of potential Indian batters. “There are a few unknowns there, so we had to go through a few options in the bowling meeting and we’ll find out on Friday who’s playing,” Hazlewood said. Asked about India snubbing Cheteshwar Pujara for the series amid a top-order shake-up, Hazlewood said: “I am pretty happy Puj isn’t here”. Australia’s full contingent trained at Optus Stadium on Wednesday, including all four of its big quicks. Mitch Marsh, whose overs as the sole all-rounder will be crucial, was up to full speed in a net session where all the top-order batters also faced the quicks. Marnus Labuschagne bowled a long spell to the middle-order, including Inglis, Alex Carey and his batting doppelganger Nathan McSweeney. The Queenslander’s persistence with medium-pace, rather than his more customary leg-spin, means he is firming to bowl seam-up in the first game of the season. That move would come amid some cloud over Marsh’s bowling loads, with the premier all-rounder yet to bowl a ball in first-class cricket this summer. Hazlewood said the batter is a genuine option with the ball, but joked he won’t be seeing it until late in the innings. “Yeah absolutely. He’s keen, that’s one good thing,” he said. “He’s keen to bowl some bouncers, bowl length, whatever’s needed, he’ll grab it. “I think the ball had a bit too much writing on it (at training) for what he’s going to see in a game … but he’s keen, which is the most important thing.” Hazlewood also clapped back at claims from the Indian camp the hosts’ top-order could be vulnerable. “I’ve bowled to them for the past few days, the past few years now and they are pretty good players with pretty good records,” he said. “I know they’ll find a way on whatever wicket, whatever conditions get thrown up.” West Australian Josh Inglis kicked a soccer ball around and faced throw-downs on his first day in the Test camp after captaining the side that wrapped up a three-match T20 international series on Monday night.