'That's the part I don't understand' - Former Australian Captain unhappy with Australian team for not playing a tour game before India Test series

India vs Australia (Source: Twitter)

India and Australia will be locking horns in a four-match Test series starting from 9^th February. India have dominated in the last three Test series between the two sides known as the ‘Border Gavaskar Trophy’. Australia have won just one Test in India in the past 19 years. The victory came in the 2017 series in Pune when Steve O’Keefe scripted a mammoth 333-run victory for Australia with his 12-wicket haul.

Ahead of the upcoming Test series, former Australian captain Michael Clarke feels that Australia are not well-prepared for the series and should have opted to play a practice match, which would have helped them prepare for the Indian conditions.

"That’s the part I don’t understand. The no tour game before the first Test in India. I hope I’m proven wrong but I think that is going to be significant. Batting in those conditions in one-day cricket and T20 cricket is one thing, batting in Indian conditions in Test cricket it is a completely different game,” Clarke said.

"You need a completely different plan to what you have playing in Australia, the way you start your innings against spin bowling, the way you play reverse swing, through the Australian summer we didn’t see any reverse swing, the games were over in two, three days,” he added.

Reverse swing is going to play a big part: Michael Clarke

"So reverse swing is going to play a big part (in India), all these batters that walk out and play bowlers bowling 130-140ks – there’s every chance India is going to play at least two spinners, so it’s a completely different game,” the World Cup winning captain said.

Clarke feels that the Indian conditions are extremely difficult to bat on. "If you get in you need to go on and make a big score because your first 20 runs in India in second innings, whoa, a ball that you go forward to and block in Australia easily against spin, over there can roll along the ground, can bounce and take your glove. You can go to block it outside off and it bowls you leg stump, natural variation over there is massive,” the 41-year-old concluded.

The upcoming series is extremely important for India to qualify for the World Test Championship final as they need to win at least two Tests to stay in the race for qualification. A victory in three Tests will give them a direct qualification to the final.