Much-awaited India vs Australia Test series is days away from kicking off but before the start of the series, there has been a lot of discussion on the importance of practice matches. This was started after Australian batter Steve Smith stated that these matches aren’t significant, especially in India. In reply to these comments, former India player Suresh Raina had some differing opinions.
Follow India vs Australia live score and updates on SportsTiger website and app.
While talking to India Today, Raina talked about the importance of the warm-up games ahead of a series like the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. He stated that these matches will help the Australian team understand the quality of pitches in India.
Suresh Raina said, “I have played practice matches (ahead of Tests) and they are really important. They (Australia) can understand the quality of pitches in India only if they play on them.”
The Chennai Super Kings star also expressed excitement about the comeback of his former teammate Ravindra Jadeja. He stated that the 2023 BGT will be even more exciting as Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma are in top form.
"I am happy with Jadeja's comeback after a long time. Our spinners R Ashwin, and Axar Patel are doing well. Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma have been in good form and I think we will get to watch an interesting series in the coming days,” Raina said.
Going back to Steve Smith, the Aussie batter also talked about how the team will be fine on the basis of their net practices in Alur near Bangalore where they have a high quality of spinners. He said, “The last time we went I'm pretty sure we got served up a green top (to practice on) and it was sort of irrelevant.”
“We're better off having our own nets and getting spinners in and bowling as much as they can. We'll wait and see when we hit the ground. I think we've made the right decision to not play a tour match,” Smith added.
Download SportsTiger app for the latest sports news and updates.