Upon landing in India for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) next year, Australia won't play a warm-up game, confirmed head coach Andrew McDonald. Ahead of the historic Test series at home against Bangladesh, McDonald has already chalked out Australia's plan amid a busy Test schedule. The Test series against New Zealand will conclude on January 8 which won't leave much time for Australian players to play a warm-up game before the BGT begins on January 21 in Nagpur.
"We feel as though we've got enough time to immerse ourselves in those conditions. We won't be taking on a practice game. It'll just be more around the location,” McDonald told cricket.com.au.
"We've got a couple of options there. We have gone to the UAE previously and we have also gone into India last time into Bangalore, so we're just working through what that would look like in terms of how we then manage the individuals.”
It is not just about the lack of time between the two series but the bowling workloads of their ageing pace quartet as well. Australia are scheduled to play three Tests on South Africa soil in October 2026. Before the Test series against New Zealand, they will also host England for an ODI and T20I series. With ODI World Cup next year, Australia won’t look to rest their key players against the English. New Zealand will be touring for four-Test series which begins on December 9.
There may be a case where a few players who are not part of the fourth Test against New Zealand may skip the Big Bash League (BBL) to prepare for the Test series in Australia. Earlier, Australia have used UAE as base to prepare for a Test series in the subcontinent. But, due to the tensions in middle east due to Israel and US’s war on Iran, Australia may not make UAE’s ICC Academy use this time around. As a result, McDonald may have a few players who are likely to be India tour practice on pitches at home which replicate the Indian conditions.
"There'll be some players that we need to put a little bit more prep into, and that'll start in Australia also, balancing out Big Bash commitments and things like that,” McDonald added.
Australia A tour of India to bring more clarity?
While the conditions will be pace-friendly in Australia, the likes of Matthew Kuhnemann, Todd Murphy, Cooper Connolly, Matthew Renshaw and others might be asked to end their BBL commitments early to focus on red-ball cricket.
The picture will be a lot clearer when Australia A tour India in September for two unofficial Tests. The players who won't be a part of South Africa tour will feature in the A tour of India. It may include a few probables Australian selectors want to test in the subcontinent conditions.
Where are Australia in WTC points table?
In the ongoing World Test Championship (WTC) cycle, Australia are placed on the top with just one loss from eight Tests. Their win percentage is 87.50. They will play nine Tests in total before touring India, their last Test series of the current cycle.
Meanwhile, India are set to resume their WTC campaign with Sri Lanka tour which begins on August 15 in Galle.