The Australia right-arm pacer Josh Hazlewood has opened his game plan for players like Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma ahead of the Border Gavaskar Trophy starting in November.
Over the years, India had an upper hand in the Border Gavaskar Trophy as they won consecutive four series including two wins on Australian soil in the 2018-19 and 2020-21 seasons.
Hence, India has been successful in the prestigious BGT winning 10 times while Australia has five wins with their last victory coming from the 2014-15 season. Recently, Hazlewood expressed his desire for Australia to reclaim the tournament.
While speaking in the media, the 33-year-old cricket said that the team will be focussing on the new players who have not played a lot of test matches so far.
“The strategy is probably more focused on the newer players we haven’t played much Test cricket against, like (Yashasvi) Jaiswal and even Shubman Gill, who we’ve only faced a few times,” said Hazlewood.
“We’ve played against Virat (Kohli), Rohit (Sharma), and others for years, so we know what to do. The plan doesn’t really change that often. It’s about the basics; doing them well and for a long time,” he added.
Hazlewood said Australia rarely falters when it comes to doing basics right. “We usually find that 9 out of 10 times, Test cricket comes back to that Plan A. You adapt to conditions and change things throughout the day or innings, but most of the time, it’s about executing that plan,” he added.
The last time the two sides met was in 2020-21 when India managed to win four matches series.
After Australia crushed India in the opening test, the visitors staged a stunning comeback by winning the Boxing Day Test in Melbourne. They have drawn the third test in Sydney before clinching the final game of the series at the Gabba.
India and Australia have secured top and second position in the WTC points table and their five-match series could bring a certain movement in the points table.
The five-match test series will kickstart on November 22 while the second test will be played on a day-night format under the stadium lights starting on December 06.
The third test will be played in the Gabba which will be held between December 14-18. The fourth test will be played between December 26-30 at Melbourne Cricket Ground.
The fifth and final test at the Sydney Cricket Ground from January 3-7 will give a promising dramatic conclusion for the exciting contest.
