Australia’s preparation for their upcoming tour to India has hit high gear as Pat Cummins‘s side looks to claim the Border-Gavaskar trophy on foreign soil for the first time in almost two decades. Australia have kicked their preparation for India into high gear as they look to win there for the first time since 2004.
Pacer Mitchell Starc will not play in the first Test but Cameron Green has still a chance of being included. The team is currently undecided on whether they will play two spinners in the series opener at Nagpur.
Mitchell Starc Still Strapped On Finger Despite Bowling A Bit During Practice And Will Miss 1st Test And Be Available For 2nd Test: Andrew McDonald
Australia’s quest to win in India for the first time since 2004 has hit an early snag as the tourists will be without veteran quick Mitchell Starc for at least the first Test in Nagpur as he continues to battle a finger injury.
“Mitch had a bowl [Sunday], he was still strapped on that finger … on a splint – so he’s still a little while off,” Australian coach Andrew McDonald said.
“And nothing’s changed in terms of where he’s at – he’ll be available for the second Test match, assuming that all things go well. But we can’t accelerate that with the nature of the injury.”
“To mitigate against any of that risk, he still has to stay in the splint but for those who were down at training today, it didn’t look too dissimilar different to what he usually produces but just with the splint on.”
“He obviously can’t bowl with that in the game.”
The news is better when it comes to all-rounder Cameron Green, who’s been carrying a finger problem since the Boxing Day Test victory over South Africa. Australia had wrapped up their three-Test series win against South Africa 2-0 with a match to play thanks to a thumping innings victory at the MCG but it came at a major cost. Mitchell Starc and Cameron Green had both been ruled out of the third Test in Sydney with finger injuries. The 3rd Test was eventually drawn.
Australia Coach Andrew McDonald: Cameron Green Will Be Given Chance To Prove Fitness Before 1st Test
Andrew McDonald said Cameron Green would be given every chance to prove his fitness ahead of the series opener.
“We just want to make sure we set up all our players up for success and there isn’t much time left from now to the four-week check-in around his finger to the start of that test match. We’ll see how he goes in the build-up and make that decision when we get on the ground in India.”
Australia will carry four spinners in their squad with Todd Murphy, Ashton Agar and Mitchell Swepson fighting it out to possibly partner Nathan Lyon in the starting XI.
While Andrew McDonald pointed out there was still a chance Australia only play Nathan Lyon, he was encouraged by the progress the quartet had made at a recent spin-bowlers training camp, an aspect of preparation that could prove crucial in the Indian conditions.
“It’s a great opportunity to get them all together and implement some of those tactical nuances that we’re going to go through in India, drip-feeding the information around what to expect, how we want to go about bowling to certain individuals and that information has been tabled and we feel they have the space to make that happen,” McDonald said.
“But most importantly, the physical demands on the spinners will be at a high level as well. We normally talk about the fast bowlers but the spinners carry a lot of the workload when we go to India so that will be a challenge for them.”
Ashton Agar bowled alongside Nathan Lyon in Australia’s most recent Test and while he went wicketless at the SCG against South Africa, Andrew McDonald cited the West Australian’s precision as his main strength as a bowler.
“Left-arm orthodox is usually very successful on the subcontinent. It gives you a second spinner who takes the ball in a different direction to Nathan and generally speaking he (Agar) is accurate, he can land it where he wants to most of the time,” he said.
“Todd Murphy spins the ball the same way as Nathan Lyon, so that would be something that hasn’t been done before, picking two frontline off-spinners and taking into account you also have Travis Head, but he wouldn’t be out of place at that level. Mitchell Swepson, he’s been there and partnered up with Nathan Lyon on the last two subcontinent tours and did a fair job within those two series in Pakistan and Sri Lankia. We feel like when we get on that plane we’ll have great options for the captain and the selectors to work through and put on the park.”
The Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2023 series will be played across four different venues in India. The Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium, Jamtha, Nagpur will host the first Test from February 9 to 13, and the Arun Jaitley Stadium, Delhi will host the second Test from February 17 to 21.
The third Test will be played at the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium, Dharamsala from March 1 to 5 and the fourth Test will be played at the Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad from March 9 to 13.