IND vs AUS: Team Australia is set to take on India in a four-match Test series starting on February 9. Meanwhile, Australian batter Usman Khawaja has praised Indian veteran Ravichandran Ashwin. Khawaja stated that Ashwin has got a lot of variations and can be very dangerous on turning tracks. Follow India vs Australia LIVE Updates on InsideSport.IN.
IND vs AUS: Usman Khawaja prepares for his 1st Test in India, opener wary of Ravichandran Ashwin Threat says ‘He got lot of variations on turning tracks’
Australia opted out of playing a warm-up game ahead of the Test series and instead chose to simulate spin friend conditions near Bengaluru upon their arrival last week. They clearly see Ashwin as the biggest threat from the opposition, so much so that they got hold of his ‘duplicate’ as part of their preparation for the high-profile contest. A team full of left-handers, Australia are working overtime to tackle the Ashwin threat.
“Ashwin is a gun. He is very skilful, he is got a lot of tricky little variations, he uses the crease quite well too. If you asked me the same question when I was younger, I probably wouldn’t have been able to answer a lot of things because I didn’t really learn about how to face what off-spinners are doing,” said Khawaja.
What’s tougher: An India tour, or away Ashes series?
The Aussie Test stars have their say #INDvAUS pic.twitter.com/ljF0II6LBo
— cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) February 6, 2023
“But it’s one of those really good challenges. The wicket’s going to turn here at some point, whether day one, day three or day four, and he is going to be in the game and bowl a lot of overs. So it’s all about figuring out how I’m going to play against him, how I’m going to score runs against him, what he might do. If you bat a long time against him, he’s going to change his game plans against you,” he added.
The Pakistan-born batter, who arrived in India after his teammates due to a visa delay, will open the batting alongside David Warner. Khawaja has played limited overs cricket in India but will finally get his opportunity in the longest format after being part of the Test squad in 2013 and 2017.