The Border Gavaskar Trophy 2023 is all set to start in a few days, and the first Test will be played at the VCA Stadium in Nagpur. Both teams have started their preparation for the same, and this series promises to be an entertaining one. Australia’s record is not great in the Indian conditions, and they will be eager to improve it.
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Australian pacer Josh Hazlewood is ruled out of the first Test, and with Mitchell Starc already injured, Scott Boland may finally get his chance to play in an overseas Test. Cameron Green’s bowling fitness is also in doubt, and it has to be seen how the Australian team will line up in Nagpur.
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The spin department will be led by Nathan Lyon, and he will play a very major role in the series. He has some spin partners in Todd Murphy, Ashton Agar and Mitchell Swepson. Usman Khawaja will be the key player of the side considering he is a very good player of spin bowling.
Practice match between India and Australia
The Australian team will not play any practice games ahead of the 1st Test in Nagpur. It is a general trend that overseas teams play at least one practice match, but Australia have opted against the same. They set their base camp in Bengaluru and trained in Alur after landing in India.
Steve Smith said that it is quite irrelevant to play a warm-up match as they got a green-top wicket last time around in the practice game which was of no use. He said that they prepare well in their own scenario training rather than playing on tracks that will not any kind of park in the main series.
“The last time we went I’m pretty sure we got served up a green top [to practice on] and it was sort of irrelevant. We’re better off having our own nets and getting spinners in and bowling as much as they can. We’ll wait and see when we hit the ground,” Steve Smith said before arriving to India.
Australian coach Andrew McDonald also said that they don’t need practice games in order to prepare well for the overseas Tests. He insisted that the Australian team applied the same approach in the Pakistan Test series as well, and it worked for them. McDonald although asked for a centre wicket to practice on.
“No tour game is something we’ve done in the last few series, before embarking on overseas tours. We feel as though we don’t need that match practice as such. We’re going to go to India about a week out from the first game,” Andrew McDonald told reporters before leaving for India.
