The Australian cricket team, led by Pat Cummins, is all set to face India in a gruelling four-match Test series, starting February 9 in Nagpur.

Over the years, Australia have struggled on the tour of India, with their batters particularly finding it tough to tackle the spinners.

This time around, the Aussies want to leave no stone unturned in their preparations and they have brought in R Ashwin’s duplicate to help them train more effectively. Mahesh Pithiya, whose bowling action resembles that of Ashwin, has been training with the Australian team ahead of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.

Taking a jibe at Australia’s preparations, former Indian cricketers Wasim Jaffer and Irfan Pathan said that the Ashwin factor is troubling the tourists even before the start of the series.

Since their defeat against England in 2012, India are on an enviable record streak of winning 15 consecutive Test series at home.

Moreover, a place in the World Test Champions (WTC) final is at stake for the Indian team on this occasion. The Rohit Sharma-led side needs to win at least three Tests in the series to qualify for the final, due to be held at the Oval in June 2023.

During the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, Delhi will host the second Test from February 17 while Dharamshala and Ahmedabad will stage the third and fourth Tests from March 1 and March 9, respectively.