CA XI give India's bowlers a workout

A competitive day three of India's lone warm-up match in Sydney was overshadowed by the injury to young gun Prithvi Shaw which has seen the opener ruled out of next week's first Domain Test in Adelaide.

Shaw suffered lateral ligament damage to his left ankle attempting to say in the field of play while taking a catch on the edge of the deep midwicket boundary.

The 19-year-old's left ankle was bent at right angles as he took the catch and writhed in pain on the boundary before being chaired off and taken to hospital for x-rays.

The scans confirmed ligament damage, with the youngster set to undergo extensive rehab in a hope to be fit for the second Test in Perth from December 14.

While most of the attention was focused on Shaw on Friday, the action out in the middle saw four Cricket Australia XI batsmen pass 50 and India's bowlers toil in brilliant conditions.

At stumps, the CA XI were 6-356, trailing the visitors by just two runs with youngsters Aaron Hardie unbeaten on 68 and Harry Nielsen alongside him on 55.

Hardie followed his fine efforts in the field on Thursday – when he took 4-50, including the wicket of Virat Kohli, and affected a run out – with a measured knock.

He had a reprieve on 67 when Cheteshwar Pujara grassed a chance off the bowling of ace spinner Ravichandran Ashwin late in the final session that would have given the visitors something to cheer about on a tough day.

Hardie and Nielsen combined for 122, a partnership built on the foundation laid by CA XI openers D'Arcy Short and Max Bryant, who plundered the Indian attack in the morning session.

Short made 74 from 91 balls while Bryant clubbed 62 from 65 balls including nine fours and one six, the maximum that Shaw intercepted on the rope before rolling his ankle and taking the ball over with him.

Jake Carder (38) and skipper Sam Whiteman (35) put on 60 before the hosts lost 4-21, with Mohammed Shami (3-67) the pick of the Indian bowlers.

The final session belonged to Hardie and Nielsen, the pair who batted through the evening to bring the match to the brink of parity with one day remaining.

Short said after play his side won't declare overnight. 

"(We will) still look to bat tomorrow and keep them out there for a bit longer," Short said. "We're definitely not declaring, we'll bat for as long as we can and keep them out there and make them bowl to us and bowl us out. 

"They're definitely keen to go out and bat again. Why wouldn't you be, it's a game for them to practice as well. It's turned into a practice game, not a first-class fixture. 

"It’s always good to keep them out there as long as possible and show them there is a little bit of depth and the boys can bat."

Domain Test Series v India

Dec 6-10: First Test, Adelaide Oval

Dec 14-18: Second Test, Perth Stadium

Dec 26-30: Third Test, MCG

Jan 3-7: Fourth Test, SCG

Australia squad: Tim Paine (c, wk), Josh Hazlewood (vc), Mitch Marsh (vc), Pat Cummins, Aaron Finch, Peter Handscomb, Marcus Harris, Travis Head, Usman Khawaja, Nathan Lyon, Shaun Marsh, Peter Siddle, Mitchell Starc, Chris Tremain

India squad: Virat Kohli (c), Murali Vijay, KL Rahul, Prithvi Shaw, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Hanuma Vihari, Rohit Sharma, Rishabh Pant (wk), Parthiv Patel (wk), Ravi Ashwin, Ravi Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Ishant Sharma, Umesh Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar