Tour game not needed before India series: Australian coach

PTI

Sydney, January 1

Australia head coach Andrew McDonald is confident that their “no tour game” policy on overseas tours will serve them well in the four-match Test series in India in February-March.

Australia are unlikely to play any tour matches ahead of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy and would arrive in India just a week before the first Test, beginning in Nagpur on February 9.

The stress would be on preserving mental and physical freshness rather than arriving much early to play a warm-up game and acclimatise to the conditions, said McDonald.

Australia are aiming for their first series win in India in 19 years. “No tour game is something we’ve done in the last few series, before embarking on overseas tours,” McDonald told a Sydney newspaper. “We feel as though we don’t need that match practice as such. We’re going to go to India about a week out from the first game.”

A similar approach was successful when they won a three-match series in Pakistan with a 1-0 margin in March last year.

‘Experiment with 5 bowlers’

Former Australia skipper Mark Taylor wants the Pat Cummins-led side to explore the option of playing with five bowlers in the third and final Test against South Africa as practice for the tour of India. “They’ve got an opportunity in Sydney to try a few things. I know people say you shouldn’t try things in Test matches, but with Cameron Green not playing, I’d really like to see Alex Carey bat at six and Australia pick five bowlers,” Taylor said.