"Specifically preparing for slide spin," reveals Australia coach Andrew McDonald

R Ashwin is an excellent exponent of slide spin [Source: Twitter]

Australia will face its toughest battle against India in the upcoming Border-Gavaskar Trophy. Historically, their batters have been kept at bay by the Indian spinners, something the current coach Andrew McDonald is working upon.

Speaking ahead of their flight to India, McDonald revealed that the management is explicitly working on playing slide spin, which the likes of Ravichandran Ashwin and Axar Patel are known for. 

R Ashwin has always been a thorn in Australia's scheme of things, while Patel has gained success in Tests at home more recently. 

Here's what McDonald explained

"I think the new ball is the one that creates more of that slide and when the batters do get done on the inside, we’re preparing for that. That slide spin, we’ll expect the spinners to bowl early against our opening batters as well with the new ball so all that is taken care of in the training environment and Diva [Michael Di Venuto] does a fantastic job in preparing. The key to success there is to have a clear method and that will be individually based and depending on the conditions we’re confronted with."

The 41-year-old further talked about ensuring the team remained fresh and the batters kept a clear mind about their approach against spinners.

The Australian team was seen practicing in Alur on Thursday evening. The first of the four Tests commences on February 9 in Nagpur. 

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