SYDNEY (AP) — With India captain Virat Kohli sitting out the day-night tour match against Australia A, stand-in skipper Ajinkya Rahane won the toss Friday and elected to bat first at the Sydney Cricket Ground.

The day-night match which ends Sunday is being played with a pink ball to simulate conditions expected at the series-opening test next week at the Adelaide Oval, also a day-night match.

Many of India's players do not have experience of playing with the pink ball, having played just one test against Bangladesh under the day-night conditions. That match at Eden Gardens in Kolkata in January was won by India by an innings and 46 runs.

Kohli, who has managed recurring back trouble in recent years, indicated after scoring 85 in India’s final Twenty20 match against Australia on Tuesday that he may sit out the tour game.

“If I feel great I’ll definitely play. If not, I’ll speak to the physio and trainer, and maybe get a few days off and be fresh for the first test,” Kohli said.

Kohli jogged some laps before the start of play on Friday but that was as active as he got before the toss.

Alex Carey is captain for Australia A.

India-Australia tests will also be played at Melbourne beginning Dec. 26 and in Sydney and Brisbane in January.

Four members of Australia’s test squad are playing in the tour match — opening bat Joe Burns, allrounder Cameron Green, pace bowler Sean Abbott and legspinner Mitchell Swepson.

Due to an improvement in coronavirus infections in New South Wales state, the SCG will not have a capped attendance.

The teams have already played three-match series in the one-day international and Twenty20 formats, with Australia winning the ODI series 2-1 and India winning the T20 contest by the same margin.

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Lineups:

Australia A: Joe Burns, Marcus Harris, Nic Maddinson, Ben McDermott, Cameron Green, Jack Wildermuth, Alex Carey (captain), Sean Abbott, Will Sutherland, Mitch Swepson, Harry Conway.

India: Ajinkya Rahane (captain), Prithvi Shaw, Mayank Agarwal, Shubman Gill, Hanuma Vihari, Rishabh Pant, Wriddhiman Saha, Navdeep Saini, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj, Jasprit Bumrah.

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