Three of India's first-choice batsmen made assured starts to their Australian tour and Suresh Raina put in his bid for the vacant No.6 slot for next week's first Test against Australia.
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Opener Murali Vijay and No.3 Cheteshwar Pujara both retired after making half-centuries on the second and final day of the practice match against a Cricket Australia XI in Glenelg, and then acting captain Virat Kohli was untroubled in compiling 60. While right-handed Pujara is reputed to be the most restrained of India's batsmen he was the visitors' most elegant, despite brisker innings from Raina (44 off 49) and leg-spinner Karn Sharma (52 not out off 54).
Two of India's batsmen all but assured of Test selection fell cheaply in the tour opener. Shikhar Dhawan was caught in slips for 10 late on day one while No.5 batsman Ajinkya Rahane made only one on day two, dismissed by 16-year-old off-spinner Sam Grimwade to an excellent diving catch at mid-off by Ryan Carters.
The match was called off about half an hour into the final session at Gliderol Stadium with India 8-363. The longest innings was from Kohli, who faced 114 deliveries before he was caught by Grimwade from the bowling of another off-spinner, Matt Short.
Kohli's half-century was one of five for the innings. The other, in addition to those from Vijay, Pujara and Karn Sharma, came from Wriddhiman Saha, who was 56 not out from 75 deliveries.
Saha is a highly accomplished gloveman - he demonstrated this with six first-innings dismissals - who has been starved of international opportunities due to the mighty presence of captain M.S. Dhoni. While no match for Dhoni with the bat he is nevertheless a handy contributor with it, boasting a first-class average of 44.35.
With no Dhoni for Brisbane the most likely scenario is for the No.6 slot to be filled by either Raina, Rohit Sharma or all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja. With the latter not selected for the first match, the others were given an early opportunity to impress.
Rohit Sharma, whose profile outside India has been boosted by his recent record one-day innings of 264, shared an attractive 47-run partnership with captain Kohli, producing four boundaries. His 46-ball stay ended when he was leg-before to left-arm paceman Josh Lalor just before lunch.
The right-hander's Test rival Raina is a limited-overs mainstay for India but has not played Tests for more than two years, owing to his mediocre average of 28.44 from 17 matches.
Raina faced only three more deliveries than Rohit Sharma had but his ability to regularly find the boundary pushed him to within six runs of his half-century when he gave Carters another catch, off the bowling of Jonte Pattison.
India will have two days' training before their final practice match, a two-dayer against another CA XI at the Adelaide Oval starting on Friday.
India's coach Duncan Fletcher joined the team on Monday. Influential media commentator and former India stalwart Ravi Shastri, recently installed above Fletcher as team director, is due to arrive in Adelaide on Wednesday.
It is unclear whether the Indian team was satisfied with the preparation provided by the CA XI because the powerful Board of Control for Cricket in India is not providing any interview opportunities beyond what it is contractually obliged to in its deal with CA. An Indian player or coach is not expected to speak publicly until just before the first Test, which begins next Thursday.
