Australia head coach Andrew McDonald has stated that the team will not play any tour matches in India prior to the four-match Test series beginning February 9 because he believes that the players do not require any practise matches to get into the groove while playing in the challenging Indian conditions.
Notably, the Australians did not play any tour matches during their away Test series against Pakistan, which they won 1-0 in March of last year. Furthermore, McDonald has said that Australia would travel for India roughly a week before the first Test match.
“We’ve played no tour games in the previous series before travelling on abroad travels. We don’t believe we need match practise in the traditional sense. We’ll go to India roughly a week before the first game. “We didn’t want to push for too long in terms of preparation,” Andrew McDonald told the Sydney Morning Herald.
“We feel that seven days is enough time to be ready and make sure we stay fresh throughout the four Test match series,” McDonald added. We had some success doing so when we went to Pakistan. “We were just on the ground for a brief time,” he continued.
“We may be inventive in our own circumstances. We’ve done it previously in Melbourne with the Pakistan build-up. Cleaning up the wickets. Suitable for the task. Working with local groundskeepers who are quite helpful in and around the country. We believe we can come as close to it as feasible without having to play a practise game,” he continued.
Australia will be looking to win their first Test series in India since the 2004/05 season, when they won the four-match series 2-1 under Adam Gilchrist. The Australians had a decent chance during their previous visit in the 2016/17 season after sweeping the series opener in Pune. Nonetheless, a determined Indian team mounted an incredible comeback to win the Border-Gavaskar Trophy by a 2-1 score.
