Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2023: The visiting Australians are making every effort to be ready for the forthcoming four-match Test series with India by using look-alike spinners, custom-made pitches, and lengthy practise sessions at Alur.
Pat Cummins’ Australia team has developed a unique approach to deal with the difficulty since they anticipate India to play to their strengths at home and set up spin-friendly surfaces. In order to prepare for the Test series, they have chosen not to play tour matches and instead will practise in Bengaluru before heading to Nagpur, which will host the first Test from February 9 to 13.
Australian team avoids practising at venue
They have also refrained from practising at any of the four Test-hosting locations (New Delhi, Dharamsala, and Ahmedabad are the other three); instead, they have travelled to the south to a facility an hour’s drive from Bengaluru.
A spinner who has an eerie likeness to India’s great off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin is helping them prepare for the difficult fights that lie ahead, according to a report from www.cricket.com.au. The Australian team management identified the Ashwin duplicate after noticing the striking similarity in action, and it was quite noticeable during their first training session at the mini-camp in Alur on Thursday. This duplicate is being proactively reported back home as a covert tactic to deal with the star player.
Who is the Ashwin duplicate Maheesh Pithiya?
The Ashwin duplicate, 21-year-old Maheesh Pithiya, made his first-class debut for Baroda in December, the report states. He is from Junagadh, Gujarat. The 21-year-old has been flown into the Australian support staff’s base in Bangalore for a four-day training camp after they saw footage of the spinner on social media.
The Karnataka State Cricket Association has also given them three pitches that will have too much spin from the start in response to requests from the Australian team. It was becoming square at the end of the day on Thursday when they played on the middle pitch.
The Australian team is preparing for battle, and Pithiya and the other net bowlers will be bowling tirelessly through and virtually without break through the day.” Their three key batsmen, Steve Smith, Marnus Labuschagne, and Travis Head, batted for extended periods of time in the morning while being bothered by Pithiya. The Australians also had to contend with left-arm spinner Shashank Mehrotra, who represents Hyderabad in first-class cricket, and throw-down expert Khaleel Shariff.
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