Xtra Time Web Desk: The Australian test team who are currently in India to play the upcoming four match test series are leaving no stone unturned. The Aussies are undergoing a five-day short-camp in Alur grounds, situated at the outskirts of the city of Bengaluru. The visitors consider Team India off spinner Ravichandran Ashwin as their biggest threat. In order to prepare well for the challenge against the ace Indian off-spinner, the Australian team management has flown in a spinner similar like Ashwin. His name is Maheesh Pithiya. Watch this video to find more about Pithiya and how Aussies are preparing at the camp.
The 21-year-old has modelled his bowling like Ashwin. Hailing from Junagadh, Pithiya’s bowling action has a strong resemblance like the Team India spinner. Pithiys first saw Ashwin playing against West Indies in 2013, and since then he started following him. These days his phone is filled with photos of Ashwin and he hopes to one day meet him. The talented spinner made his first-class debut for Baroda very recently in December
This is precisely the reason Australia’s support staff, after being sent footage of Pithiya via social media, have flown the 21-year-old into their base in Bangalore for a four-day training camp at the KSCA Ground in nearby Alur.
It is here the Australians are fine-tuning a strategy they hope can help them knock over India on their home decks for the first time in a generation. There are three pitches being prepared in the middle of the main ground in Alur by the local Karnataka cricket association, with each taking more turn.
With the wickets to receive extensive foot traffic over the course of the mini-camp, it is hoped the surfaces will be turning square by the weekend, replicating what players are expecting in Nagpur, a ground with a reputation for big spin.
The Aussies have also called a left arm spinner Mehrotra Shashank, who played first-class cricket for Hyderabad to prepare against the likes of Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel and Kuldeep Yadav.