All eyes on Kohli as India A take on Aus A

Looking to get some vital competitive match practice ahead of the tough Sri Lanka tour, Kohli straight away joined the practice sessions on Monday.

His decision to play the match was to get acclimatized to the conditions which <g data-gr-id="23">is</g> similar to Colombo where he would be leading the Indian team for the first time in a three-Test series starting on August 12.

In the first unofficial test that ended last week, the wicket condition at MA Chidambaram Stadium was tough and slow resulting in the teams drawing the match.

In the last three days, the <g data-gr-id="22">grounds men</g> here have been working on the wicket and with Kohli being around in the playing eleven for the hosts, the match is likely to throw a strip that is to the liking of the players. In the first match, Indian spinners Pragyan Ojha and Amit Mishra were the biggest gainers with match hauls of six and five wickets respectively, while opening batsman Lokesh Rahul (96 in first innings) made the most of the slow wicket.

Cheteshwar Pujara, Vijay <g data-gr-id="16">Shankar</g> and Shreyas Iyer also chipped in with useful contributions.