Adelaide, Australia: Varun Aaron took four wickets as India held a Cricket Australia Invitational XI to 243 runs on Thursday's opening day of a two-day match in preparation for the first test against Australia.
In reply at stumps Thursday, India was 99-2, with opener Murali Vijay 39 not out and Virat Kohli with an unbeaten 30.
The 25-year-old Aaron has played only three tests due to a number of injuries, but Thursday's performance could see him start when the first test begins at the Adelaide Oval on Tuesday.
The right-arm paceman was the leading wicket-taker when the two sides met in a two-day match at the same Glenelg Oval in suburban Adelaide last week.
Aaron dismissed opener and captain Ashton Turner for a duck in the second over when Turner dragged the ball onto his stumps. Tasmania opener Jordan Silk and Alex Keath put on a stand of 71 runs after the hosts collapsed to 3-34.
Aaron returned to break the partnership, with Silk out edging for 58. Aaron finished with figures of 4-41 from 14.3 overs.
Mohammed Shami struck twice with the new ball, removing Ryan Carters and Matthew Short in his six-over spell.
India's tour game at the Adelaide Oval last week was canceled after Phillip Hughes' death while playing for South Australia. Cricket Australia wanted to give the visitors a replacement match before the rescheduled four-test series starts in Adelaide — the first test had initially been due to begin on Thursday at Brisbane's Gabba.
There was no toss at the start of Thursday's match, with the India side granted its wish of bowling first under overcast skies.
That gave Kohli, Vijay and Rohit Sharma time to return from New South Wales state where they attended Hughes' funeral and still have an opportunity to bat.
The two sides lined up for a minute's silence before play, while both sides wore black armbands to honor Hughes. The scoreboard carried the tribute "RIP P HUGHES 408", referring to the fact that Hughes was the 408th test player for Australia.
