‘Let’s psych ’em out’: Inside the secret training session India didn’t want everyone to see

Naturally, the team’s secrecy piqued the interest of Indian and Australian cricket fans in the area. Many flocked to the nets to catch a glimpse of Kohli and make their own mind up whether he really is out of form or perhaps destined for some much-needed centuries in this five-Test series.

There was, according to onlookers, a small viewing area behind the nets, whenever security let their guard down.

During the afternoon, as Indian players made their way onto the WACA, out came the cameras from near and far.

Indian officials invited Getty photographer Paul Kane onto the ground to take photos for the entirety of the session.

He filed photos of Kohli kicking a soccer ball, Pant having a laugh and young all-rounder Washington Sundar stretching his hamstrings with the famous WACA scoreboard in the background. Coach Gautam Gambhir was also snapped, days after firing back at Ricky Ponting’s frank assessments of Kohli and Rohit Sharma’s form.

Reporters were denied entry to WACA during training, but that didn’t stop eagle-eyed fans from keeping a close eye on the light session, despite India’s desire to train in peace.

One Perth resident, who didn’t want to reveal his identity in order to speak freely, spoke with this masthead as he watched training from a nearby office building. The ‘do not take photos’ memo clearly didn’t extend to the entire city.

He was more than happy to provide several photos in real-time and commentary on an Indian team that he was observing below walking around number of white plastic chairs on the field.

“Apparently the Indian cricket team’s secret approach to training includes playing occasional rounds of musical chairs to break up what otherwise looks exactly like normal fielding and net practice,” the fan said. “No centre wicket hit, just regular drills today.”

Other photographers and television crews went to extreme lengths as they brought out ladders and drones to get the shot their editors wanted of some of the sport’s biggest names.

By the end of training, after a number of protests at the media access being provided, The West Australian were eventually allowed a photographer inside to capture what they could.

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Hours earlier, the paper had published exclusive photos of Virat Kohli leaving his Perth hotel “with a backpack over his shoulder and sunglasses on”.

Eyes will be on India’s every move this week, even if, in reality, there is little to gain from having a bird’s-eye view of a training session involving a team supported by the best part of a billion fans.

Unless Kohli trips on a soccer ball.

The circus has certainly arrived in town ahead of a tantalising series.

“It’s just started warming up here, but already the Indian team is cooling down,” said the fan, who’ll be watching training again from his sneaky vantage point on Thursday. “Let’s psych ’em out before Starc’s first yorker.”

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