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India's ace spinner Ravichandran Ashwin has given a strong retort to Australia's star batter Steve Smith as the former clapped back at latter's comments on playing tour games ahead of the Border-Gavaskar Test series. Ashwin said that nobody plans these things while labeling Smith's bizzare comment as mind games.
Australia have decided not to play a single tour game in India during the month-long Test series, owing to the hosts' preference for green tops for practice matches and spinning tracks for games. Instead, they're in Alur for a four-day training camp at the KSCA Stadium.
"We normally have two tour games over in England. This time we don't have a tour game in India. The last time (2017) we went I'm pretty sure we got served up a green top (to practice on) and it was sort of irrelevant. Hopefully, we get really good training facilities where the ball is likely to do what it's likely to do out in the middle, and we can get our practice in," Ashwin said while previewing the Border-Gavaskar Trophy on his YouTube channel.
"Australia are not playing any tour matches this time. This is not new. Even India avoids tour games when they go on a few overseas tours. Since Team India's schedule is packed with international games, it is not possible to turn up for practice games with the same intensity.
"Smith said, 'We got a green wicket in Brabourne and a completely opposite one in the first Test (during the 2017 series). In all fairness, it was a rank-turner in Pune. We might have given them a green track, but nobody plans all these things. However, Australia are known for its mind games and sledges before a series. They love doing that. It's their style of cricket," Ashwin further added.
Meanwhile, right ahead of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, Australian cricket have brought in Maheesh Pithiya — a 21-year-old spinner with an uncanny resemblance to Ashwin. The objective is to train on the spin-friendly tracks of India as a part of their preparation for the marquee series.
Many in the Australian coaching staff believe that off-spinner Ashwin may prove to be a major threat. The side have not won a Test series in India since 2004. Expecting spin to play a major role in the four-Test series, the visitors have opted for tailor-made pitches and have availed the services of Pithiya to get accustomed to the action of Ashwin.
"Of all the stops Australia have pulled out to prepare for their trip to India, the most noticeable at their Test tour's first training session was the presence of a Ravichandran Ashwin duplicate. With facing spin the major focus on Thursday, Pithiya was the standout among the local 'netties', bowling tirelessly and virtually without break through the day as he troubled the likes of Smith, Marnus Labuschagne and Travis Head, who all had long batting sessions," a report in cricket.com.au said.
Border Gavaskar Trophy 2023 schedule:
1st Test at Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium, Nagpur - February 9-13
2nd Test at Arun Jaitley Stadium, Delhi - February 17-21
3rd Test at Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium, Dharamsala - March 1-5
4th Test at Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad - March 9-13
India’s squad for the first two Tests vs Australia: Rohit Sharma (c), KL Rahul (vc), Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KS Bharat (wk), Ishan Kishan (wk), Ravichandran Ashwin, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj, Umesh Yadav, Jaydev Unadkat, Suryakumar Yadav.
Australia Test squad for India tour: Pat Cummins (capt), Ashton Agar, Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Cameron Green, Peter Handscomb, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Lance Morris, Todd Murphy, Matthew Renshaw, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Mitchell Swepson, David Warner.
