Australia’s much-awaited Test challenge on Indian soil is all set to get underway on 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.
Former India cricketer Suresh Raina is also shocked by the Australian team’s decision to opt for simulation training rather than playing warm-up games ahead of the gruelling series.
After landing in India earlier this week, the visitors have set their base in Bengaluru for training. They are practising on rank turners, having roped in a little-known Baroda spinner Maheesh Pithiya, whose bowling action resembles R Ashwin, as their net bowler.
“I have played practice matches (ahead of Tests) and they are really important. They (Australia) can understand the quality of pitches in India only if they play on them,” Raina told PTI on Saturday (February 4).
Meanwhile, some of the visiting players like Steve Smith and Usman Khawaja have supported Australia’s decision of not playing tour games, saying that the team is better of training on its own as the pitches prepared for tour fixtures and actual matches in India are very different.
On a different note, Raina is expecting India to do well in the four-Test series and he feels Ravindra Jadeja’s comeback will also bolster the home side.
“I am happy with Jadeja’s comeback after a long time,” said the southpaw. “Our spinners R Ashwin, Akshar Patel are doing well. Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma have been in good form and I think we will get to watch an interesting series in the coming days.”
While visiting teams often get rank turners during Test matches in the sub-continent, Raina would like to see a track that would hold on for five days. He also decided against predicting the outcome of the series.
“Let it begin first. A Test match should be five-day long. I will only comment (on performance) after watching the first day and seeing the focus of players.”
(With PTI Inputs)
