CANBERRA, Jan 10: Opener Virender Sehwag and the struggling Yuvraj Singh both fell cheaply on Thursday as India returned to action after fears they would quit their crisis-hit tour of Australia.

Sehwag fluffed his chance to make a powerful case for the Test selection, making just 24 after India won the toss and elected to bat in the three-day tour match against the Australian Capital Territory XI.

Yuvraj’s horror tour continued when he made just two as the tourists paid the price for poor shot selection against a modest attack with little first-class experience.

The Indians declared at 325 for nine after throwing a number of wickets away with loose shots, and the ACT were 10 without loss at stumps on the first day.

The match follows three days of frenzied fallout from the controversial second Test in Sydney, which ended in charges of racism, bad sportsmanship and poor umpiring.

Senior batsman and former Indian skipper Rahul Dravid, who benefited from dropping down to number four, making 62 from 91 balls with nine fours, said it was disappointing that several batsmen again failed to deliver.

Yuvraj’s batting woes continued when he was caught in the gully from a poor shot. He has made just 17 runs in the first two Tests at 4.25. In better news for the tourists, embattled opener Wasim Jaffer finally found some form with a stylish 92.

Scoreboard

INDIA (1st innings)

W. Jaffer c Ritchard b Higgs 92

V. Sehwag c Higgs b Swards 24

D. Karthik c Perera b Swards 25

R. Dravid c Crosthwaite b Perera 62

Y. Singh c Dean b Perera 2

M.S. Dhoni c & b Ritchard 38

I. Pathan c Bulger b Swards 33

H. Singh c Crosthwaite b Bulger 0

R.P. Singh c Crosthwaite b Ritchard....... 12

P. Singh not out 5

V. Singh not out 4

EXTRAS (B-5, LB-9, W-8, NB-6) 28

TOTAL (for nine wkts, 84 overs, declared) 325

FALL OF WKTS: 1-66, 2-117, 3-210, 4-220,

5-233, 6-288, 7- 291, 8-301, 9-321.

BOWLING: Sherlock 17-4-72-0 (1nb, 8w), Perera 15-3-40-2 (2nb), Swards 17-2-45-3, Ritchard 18-1-71-2 (1nb), Bulger 12-0-70-1 (2nb), Higgs 5-0-13-1.

ACT (1st innings)

C. Rogers not out 2

E. Cowan not out 8

EXTRAS 0

TOTAL (for no wkt, 4 overs) 10

BOWLING: Pathan 2-1-5-0, Sharma 2-1-5-0.

UMPIRES: Reg Goodger and Rod Tucker.