Australia is opting for a focused preparatory camp instead of traditional practice matches to master sub-continental conditions ahead of the five-Test series against India next year.
IMAGE: Australia will not play any practice match before its high-profile Border Gavaskar Trophy five-Test match series in India next year. Photograph: Andrew Boyers/Reuters
Key Points
- Australia will not play traditional practice matches before the Border Gavaskar Trophy Test series in India.
- Instead, the team will hold a short preparatory camp in conditions similar to the sub-continent.
- The five-Test series against India is scheduled to begin on January 21 in Nagpur.
- Australia aims to replicate Indian pitch conditions at a dedicated venue for optimal acclimatisation.
Australia head coach Andrew McDonald has revealed that his team will not play any practice match before its high-profile Border Gavaskar Trophy five-match Test series in India next year, adding that a short preparatory camp in conditions similar to the sub-continent would be more useful.
The much-anticipated five-Test series is scheduled to start on January 21 in Nagpur.
“We feel as though we’ve got enough time to immerse ourselves in those conditions. We won’t be taking on a practice game. It’ll just be more around the location,” McDonald told cricket.com.au.
“We’ve got a couple of options there. We have gone to the UAE previously and we have also gone into India last time into Bangalore, so we’re just working through what that would look like in terms of how we then manage the individuals.”
Strategic Preparation For India Tour
The Australians will, however, play tour games against local sides during upcoming assignments against South Africa and England.
The series against India would last for over a month with games spread across Nagpur, Chennai, Guwahati, and Ranchi before the finale in Ahmedabad.
During their 2023 tour of India, Australia had held a camp in Alur near Bengaluru to prepare for the series.
“Ultimately, if you can have a dedicated venue that you’re able to use and replicate as close to the conditions that you believe you may get in the first Test match or throughout a Test series, that’s ideally what you want,” he said.
“You case those locations – you want a connection in terms of conditions and climate. We believe we’ll get that right in terms of where we go, it just hasn’t been confirmed yet.”
Player Management And Squad Selection
McDonald said players shortlisted for the India series but not in contention for the preceding home rubber against New Zealand would be expected to prepare for the tour instead of playing in the Big Bash at that time.
Matthew Kuhnemann, Todd Murphy, Cooper Connolly, Peter Handscomb and Matthew Renshaw are some of the names in contention to play in India, according to the report.
“A lot of that would happen on the back of the four Tests against New Zealand, seeing where players are at. We’ll potentially have some different players with different skill sets that we believe can perform in India, so it won’t necessarily be the squad that finishes the Test series (against New Zealand that then heads to India).
“There’ll be some players that we need to put a little bit more prep into, and that’ll start in Australia also, balancing out Big Bash commitments and things like that,” he said.
Australian have not won a Test series in India since their last victory in2004-05.
