Australia are all set to tour India for a four-match Test series, starting February 9 in Nagpur. The series will be crucial in determining the top two spots in the World Test Championship.
Since Australia have historically struggled on the Test tour of India, many cricket experts believe that the Pat Cummins-led side should have played tour games leading up to the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2023.
However, star batter Steve Smith has supported Australia’s decision of not playing tour games, saying that the team is better of training on its own.
According to Smith, there was no point in playing practice games as the pitches prepared for tour fixtures and actual matches in India are very different.
"We'll wait and see when we hit the ground. I think we've made the right decision to not play a tour match. Like I said, last time they dished up a green top for us (in a tour game) and we barely faced any spin, so it's kind of irrelevant," Smith was quoted as saying by news.com.au.
Instead, Australia’s touring party had a pre-series camp on spin-friendly tracks in Sydney and will have a week-long stint in Bengaluru prior to the opening Test.
"We normally have two tour games over in England. This time we don't have a tour game in India. The last time we went (to India) I'm pretty sure we got served up a green top (to practice on) and it was sort of irrelevant. Hopefully, we get really good training facilities where the ball is likely to do what it's likely to do out in the middle, and we can get our practice in," Smith said.
Notably, Australia have not won a Test series in India since 2004. Prior to that, they won a Test series on Indian soil way back in 1969. No wonder, Steve Smith considers it a ‘huge’ series.
"It's (the Test series in India) certainly huge. I don't know if it's (winning in India) the final frontier. I've never won there, I've been there twice (for Tests), it's always difficult playing there. We've got some challenges in front of us, but the guys are ready for it," he remarked.
During the India tour, Australia will also play Test matches in Delhi (February 17-21), Dharamshala (March 1-5) and Ahmedabad (March 9-13).
Australia Squad: Pat Cummins (captain), Ashton Agar, Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Cameron Green, Josh Hazlewood, Peter Handscomb, Travis Head, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Lance Morris, Todd Murphy, Matthew Renshaw, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Mitchell Swepson, David Warner.
