TOI Sports Desk
NEW DELHI: Abhishek Nayar, India’s assistant coach, stated that the squad got all they needed from the three-day center-wicket match stimulation at the WACA Ground ahead of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, which begins on November 22.
Optus Stadium in Perth will host the opening game of India’s five-match Test series against Australia. Adelaide, Brisbane, Melbourne, and Sydney will follow. India has won both of its previous Test visits to Australia by identical scores of 2-1.
Border-Gavaskar Trophy
“Just before we came to Australia, Gauti bhai (head coach Gautam Gambhir), Rohit (Sharma), we had a discussion on what we wanted out of these three days. The idea was to try and make sure that for the younger and experienced guys to give them a lot of time in the centre, to adapt, to understand conditions.”
“We are coming and playing Test cricket (in Australia) after four years. So, initially, we got the guys to come in and had it like a game where you are done once you get out. But then we tried to give them another chance the second time around.”
“We felt that the second time around the guys adapted better, they understood the conditions better, and were a lot more comfortable. We got what we wanted out of it,” said Nayar in a video posted by BCCI on ‘X’.
Additionally, he discussed how the Indian bowlers received their bowling workloads during match stimulations. “Day two was quite similar, we were using the facilities outside, getting the nets in and getting the quality and quantity down in the center.”
“It was also about our bowlers coming in and bowling spells, getting up the workloads and bowling 15 overs each. Boom (Jasprit Bumrah) bowled 18 (overs), a couple others bowled 18 (overs). So it was just about getting the guys into game sense.”
Morne Morkel, the bowling coach, expressed his satisfaction with the bowlers’ performance during practice. “They summed up conditions very well. We are on track for the 22nd (November). Another three training sessions left. We’ll sit down this afternoon or tomorrow and start planning, looking at game plans and how we are going to bring out the best in each and everyone for game time on the 22nd.”
#BGT IND vs AUS: Ashwin unlikely to play before the 3rd Test | #BeyondTheBoundary