Australia rope in Ravi Ashwin’s impersonator for nets

In preparation for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, the Australian team is doing everything possible, with an aim to win the series. The Pat Cummins-led team started practicing in Alur upon their arrival to India a day before, and it is also being said that they are watching videos of Axar Patel’s bowling, considering the all-rounder as a potential threat.

India and Australia will kick-start the four-match Test series on February 9 in Nagpur with an aim to make it to the World Test Championship final. While Australia are comfortably placed on top of the rankings with 75.56 percentage points, India are ranked second with 58.93 percentage points to their name and a victory in the upcoming series will confirm their spot in the summit clash.

As the Australian side has started preparing for the all-important series in India, a video from their recent nets session has been doing rounds on social media. In the video, Steve Smith is seen facing Baroda bowler Mahesh Pithiya in order to train themselves against Indian spinners, especially the seasoned and experienced Ravichandran Ashwin.

Mahesh Pithiya’s bowling action and his entire style are similar to Ashwin’s, as the Baroda bowler tries to impersonate his idol. As Mahesh started playing the sport professionally, he grew up being called ‘Ashwin’, the sole reason being his exact representation of the Indian spinner’s bowling style. As a result, the Australians roped him in for their first training session so as to practice playing against Ashwin.

Here’s the video:

The Australians are making every effort to be ready for the forthcoming four-match Test series with India. Be it using lookalike spinners, custom-made surfaces, or lengthy practice sessions at Alur, the visitors are giving their all. The Australians have developed a unique plan to deal with the difficulty since they anticipate India to play to their strengths at home and set up spin-friendly tracks.

To get ready for the Test series, they have decided to train in Alur first before heading to Nagpur and have opted out of playing tour matches. They have also refrained from practicing at any of the four Test-hosting locations, New Delhi, Dharamsala, and Ahmedabad being the other three. Instead, they have traveled to the south to a facility that is an hour away from Bengaluru.