The final frontier as Steve Waugh labelled it, Australia haven't won a Test series in India since 2004. India have won three back-to-back Test series against Australia the most recent coming during the 2020-21 series down under.
Rigorous training camp in Alur
The Australian team have taken a detour to Bangalore instead of heading straight to Nagpur. They are currently training at the KSCA ground in Alur. It is here the Australians are fine-tuning a strategy they hope can help them knock over India on their home decks for the first time in a generation.
With no tour game on schedule before the start of the series on February 9, Australia have pulled every stop to prepare for their trip to India. The most noticeable that went viral on social media was the presence of a bowler that bowled in the same tandem as Ravichandran Ashwin.
Ashwin's duplicate, Maheesh Pithiya, is a 21-year-old from Junagadh, Gujarat, and made his first-class debut for Baroda in December. His bowling action has a strong resemblance to Ashwin, "who will be one of the biggest bowling threats to the Aussies during the four-Test series beginning in Nagpur next week".
Replicating pitches
Three pitches in the middle of the main ground in Alur have been prepared by the local Karnataka cricket association, with each taking more turn as their first training day wore on. Assistant coach Daniel Vettori's left-arm spinning throwdowns were particularly volatile by mid-afternoon.
A close up of the worn pitches Australia are training on |
With the wickets to receive extensive foot traffic over the course of the mini-camp, it is hoped the surfaces will be turning square by the weekend, replicating what players are expecting in Nagpur, a ground with a reputation for big spin.
But Australia are adamant that facing the likes of Pithiya on surfaces tailored to what they expect to encounter in the Test series will prove far more beneficial than a practice match.
Australia squad: Pat Cummins (c), Ashton Agar, Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Cameron Green, Peter Handscomb, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Lance Morris, Todd Murphy, Matthew Renshaw, Steve Smith (vc), Mitchell Starc, Mitchell Swepson, David Warner
India squad: (for the first two Tests) Rohit Sharma (c), KL Rahul (vc), Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KS Bharat, Ishan Kishan, Ravichandran Ashwin, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj, Umesh Yadav, Jaydev Unadkat, Suryakumar Yadav
