Australia get ‘Ashwin duplicate’ to train ahead of Test series against India | Cricket News
Off-spinner Ashwin could prove to be a major threat to Australia, which has not won a Test series in India since 2004.
Expecting the spin to play an important role in the four-test series, visitors opted for a tailor-made pitch and used Pithiya’s service to familiarize themselves with Ashwin’s actions.
The series of four tests started in Nagpur on 9th Feb.
“Of all the stops Australia made in preparation for its trip to India, the most notable on the first practice session of the Test tour was the presence of a replica of Ravichandran Ashwin ,” said a report on cricket.com.au.
“With facing spin the main focus on Thursday, Pithiya is the standout amongst the local ‘netties’, bowling tirelessly and barely taking a day off when he’s causing trouble. for people like Smith, Marnus Labuschagne and Travis headwho all had long batting sessions.”
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Pithiya, interestingly, didn’t watch Ashwin play until the age of 11. Growing up in Junagadh, Gujarat, he didn’t get to watch TV and when he finally watched India’s best athlete compete against the West Indies in 2013, he started idolizing. he.
The youngster, who made his first-class debut in December for Baroda, flew to a four-day training camp at the KSCA Ground in nearby Australia’s Alur after seeing footage of him on social media. festival.
It’s a Love Joshi – one of the athletes to throw the ball down the Australian players with the help of ‘extra arm’ – the first to bring Pithiya to the attention of assistant coach Andre Borovec.
He also arranged for Mehrotra Shashank, a left-hander who played first-class cricket for Hyderabad, to join the camp.
“While no pitcher in the world can perfectly mimic the challenge Ashwin will pose in this series, facing Pithiya in the coming days will at least help Australians accept visual cues of the world’s top Test pitcher,” the report said.
“Australian hitters have also been tested by a self-described expert pitcher Chief of Police Khaleelwho has worked with many teams in the Indian Premier League and is known as a coach Andrew McDonald and Vettori from his time at Royal Challengers Bangalore.”
Other Tests will be held in New Delhi (February 17-21), Dharamsala (March 1-5) and Ahmedabad (March 9-13).