India has won the toss and elected to bat in its final warm-up match against a Chairman's XI in Canberra.
Batting legends Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid have been left out of the Indian line-up for the three-day practice match at Manuka Oval.
Speculation is growing that the tourists will call in a cover player for injured fast bowler Ishant Sharma after he was ruled out of the match entirely.
India was hoping Sharma would pass a fitness test after sitting out Monday and be available to play on Tuesday and Wednesday.
However, it is clear his ankle injury is worse than the team has been letting on.
Sharma completed just 5.3 overs in the opening tour game against a Chairman's XI last week and is in serious doubt for the first Test against Australia starting on Boxing Day in Melbourne.
The Chairman's team will bowl first, giving discarded Test player Doug Bollinger a chance to prove himself against the Indian batting line-up - which still boasts the likes of Virender Sehwag, VVS Laxman and MS Dhoni.
Captain David Warner is listed to open the batting with Ed Cowan when it's the Chairman's team's turn to bat, leaving under-pressure Test incumbent Phil Hughes to bat down the order at number four.
The demotion suggests Hughes needs a miracle to retain his place opening the batting for the MCG clash.
Usman Khawaja will bat at three for the Chairman's team, and century maker from the first game, Tom Cooper will come in at five.
Consistent rain in Canberra overnight and through the morning meant the first session of play was not possible and the start was delayed by two hours and 40 minutes.
An extra hour will be attempted at the end of the day to make up time, extending the scheduled playing time to 7:00pm (AEDT).
Teams (13-a-side):
CA Chairman's XI: David Warner (c), Edward Cowan, Usman Khawaja, Phil Hughes, Tom Cooper, Alexander Doolan, Tim Ludeman (wk), Cameron Boyce, Josh Lalor, Jason Behrendorff, Jon Holland, Doug Bollinger (12th), Peter George
India: Gautam Gambhir, Ajinkya Rahane, Virender Sehwag, VVS Laxman, MS Dhoni (c), Virat Kohli, Wriddhiman Saha (wk), Rohit Sharma, Ravichandran Ashwin, Zaheer Khan, Abhimanyu Mithun, Pragyan Ojha (12th), Umesh Yadav
AAP
Tags: cricket, sport, canberra-2600, act, australia First posted December 19, 2011 11:19:51
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