Australia have arrived in India for the much-awaited Border-Gavaskar Trophy, starting next week. Pat Cummins & Co are aware that the defending champions will play to their strength at home and layout spin-friendly tracks. The visitors are leaving no stone unturned in their preparations and in order to meet the challenges, they have come up with several strategies.
Rather than playing tour matches ahead of the Test series, the Aussies have decided to train in Bengaluru before travelling to Nagpur for the first Test on February 9. Also, the touring party has avoided practicing at the venues that will host the matches – New Delhi, Dharamshala and Ahmedabad being the other three. They have gone directly to the state of Karnataka to train at a facility near the capital city.
And to be match-ready and prepare themselves for the tough battles against spin, the Aussies have roped in a youngster who has an uncanny resemblance to veteran Indian off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin.
According to a cricket.com.au report, the so-called Ashwin’s bowling double was quite noticeable during their first training session at the mini-camp in Alur on Thursday. He is being proactively reported back home as a secret strategy to tackle India’s star off-spinner Ashwin.
And aiding them in getting ready for the tough battles ahead is a spinner who has an uncanny resemblance to India star Ravichandran Ashwin, according to a report by www.cricket.com.au.
The youngster’s name is Mahesh Pithiya; 21-year-old from Junagadh, Gujarat. He recently made his first-class debut for Baroda in December. His bowling action strongly resembles Ashwin. This is precisely the reason Australia’s support staff, after being seen footage of the spinner via social media, have flown the 21-year-old into their base in Bangalore for a four-day training camp at the KSCA Ground in Alur.
On-demand from the Aussies, the KSCA has also provided them with three pitches that will provide excessive spin from day one. On Thursday, they practised on the central pitch and it was turning square by the end of the day.
“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,” reported cricket.com.au.
Two weeks ago, a Ranji Trophy game at the Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium saw Gujarat getting bowled out in the fourth innings for 54 while chasing only 72. Nine wickets fell to left-arm orthodox spin.
Keeping that in mind, the Aussies are gearing up for the battle. Their main batters Steve Smith, Marnus Labuschagne and Travis Head batted for long sessions in the morning and all three were troubled by Pithiya.
While no spinner in the world can perfectly mimic the challenge Ashwin will pose in this series, facing Pithiya over the coming days will at least help the Australians come to terms with the visual cues of the world’s top-ranked Test spin bowler.
(With Agency Inputs)
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