The policy of not playing tour games before starting an away tour paid off for Australia in Pakistan.
Australia will continue its policy of not playing any tour games before the away test series when it arrives in India in February. Australia travels to India for the four-match Test series for the first time since her 2017. They hadn’t played a tour game before the series in Pakistan at the end of March last year, but won 1-0.
Head coach Andrew McDonald said they are instead trying to be creative on their terms to prepare for what they will experience in India. “In the last few series before embarking on an overseas tour, there was no tour play,” he told the Sydney Morning Herald.
“I don’t feel like I need to practice for that kind of match. I’m going to India about a week after my first match. I didn’t want to put too much pressure on my preparation.”
The Australian thug, who prepared on a bruised pitch during camp in Melbourne, arrived just a week before arriving in Rawalpindi for last year’s Pakistan trip. McDonald said the emphasis will be on keeping mentally and physically fresh, rather than playing warm-up games and arriving fairly early to get used to the conditions. “I feel like seven days is plenty of time to get ready to stay fresh for four friendly games,” said McDonald. When I went to Pakistan, I had some success with that. My time there was reduced. “
“We can be creative in our own way. We’ve done it before with Pakistan’s build-up in Melbourne. Dustwicket. Fit for purpose. We work with local groundskeepers who really help us in and around the country. I feel that I can get as close as possible without necessarily having a practice match. “