Melbourne [Australia]: Australia’s new boy Peter Handscomb, who is part of the national squad touring India for the four-match Test series, believes that his team would have find their own ways to tackle the Indian spinners in the much anticipated series.
Fresh from the recent 4-1 Test series win and a series of limited-overs victory against England, India will aim to continue their dominance at home when they take on the Steve Smith-led side in the series starting from February 23 in Pune.
“The biggest thing is about us going over there and finding our own way to deal with the spin,” Handscomb was quoted as saying by cricket.com.au.
“It’s all good and well other people telling us how to play it, but if that’s not in our game plan, it’s not going to be great.”
“So we’ll have time over there to formulate the way we’re going to play and if each player can stick to that plan and back their own skills, I’m sure we’ll be fine,” he added.
India, the current No. 1 Test side, have suffered just one series loss at home in the past 12 years. Australia, on the other hand, have lost their past nine Tests in Asia and have won just one of their past nine series in India.
Skipper Smith had last month suggested that his team should look to rein in their aggression and back their defence, while vice-captain David Warner noted he would continue to take the game on.
However, Handscomb believes none of the batters can ever feel really comfortable in India.
“You’ve got to work so hard to get your runs, and you’ve got to have different strategies at different times of a game. That’s probably what I’ve learned … you’ve got to be adaptable and you’ve got to be able to change your game almost mid-innings,” he said.
“Even for the Indian players … they change all the way through their innings. Hopefully we can do similar stuff,” he added.
Ace spinners Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja, who are current world number one and two in ICC Test Rankings for bowlers, have played significant role in India’s dominance at home in the recent years.
And it would be a herculean task, especially for the Australian batters to tackle the ace spin duo. Also, the fact that Australia have not won a Test in India since 2004 and their last series victory in Asia came against Sri Lanka in 2011, will be always on the minds of Smith and his team.
The first Test in Pune would be followed by games at Bengaluru (March 4-8), Ranchi (March 16-20) and Dharamsala (March 25-29).
Australia Squad: Steve Smith (capt), David Warner, Ashton Agar, Jackson Bird, Peter Handscomb, Josh Hazlewood, Usman Khawaja, Nathan Lyon, Mitchell Marsh, Shaun Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Steve O’Keefe, Matthew Renshaw, Mitchell Starc, Mitchell Swepson, Matthew Wade (wk). (ANI)