Mumbai: An 18-member Indian team, led by Virat Kohli, on Saturday left for Australia to play in the four-match Test series starting at Brisbane from December 4.
Skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni will miss the first Test due to a right thumb injury and he is expected the join side from the second Test onwards.
Naman Ojha is the reserve wicketkeeper for the first Test and he will return home once Dhoni joins the team for the second Test.
The Australia tour commences on November 24 with a two-day practice game in Adelaide against Cricket Australia XI. The visitors will then play one more two-day warm-up game against Cricket Australia Invitational XI (November 28-29) in Adelaide before the four-match Test series starts on December 4 at Brisbane.
The other Tests are to be played at Adelaide (December 12-16), Melbourne (December 26-30) and Sydney (January 3-7).
The Test series will be followed by a tri-nation series comprising hosts Australia, India and England from January 16 to February 1.
Ravi Shastri, the BCCI director cricket, meanwhile said: “We have got an exciting bunch of young players but that does not mean they should be intimidated by the opposition. If you are prepared to guts it out, then there is no reason why you can’t perform. They are good competitors but we can show them that even we are good competitors. This bunch has it,” the former India captain said.
Shastri doesn’t mince words and approaches the game positively, which should add to the players’ confidence, especially because the team will be without regular skipper MS Dhoni in the first Test. Dhoni will miss the tour opener due to a thumb injury, giving Virat Kohli the honour to make his Test captaincy debut.
Speaking to media ahead of team’s departure, Shastri did not pay heed to Glenn McGrath’s prediction of another 4-0 drubbing awaiting India. “McGrath is entitled to his opinion”, that’s all Shastri had to say about it.
The Team Director also advised the players to unwind themselves in Australia on days when there is no cricket. “I think it’s very important that when you have a long tour, you have the ability to switch off ... You don’t have to be thinking overtime. You need to focus on what you have to do but when you are not playing, you switch off. You have got to have a way of relaxing, you have got to have hobbies. Australia is a great county, there are enough places to go to, get your mind off cricket,” the 52-year-old said.
Few days back, Peter Siddle had already started the mindgames by saying that Kohli will find it hard to get going in Australia and his captaincy will surely be tested in the first Test.
“Obviously, the captaincy is going to be a bit daunting for him, coming in for a big Test series in Australia and taking over. He’ll be up for it and no doubt we will be. I’m sure the crowd will be right behind us, backing us up and putting a lot of pressure on him,” Siddle had said.
“The Gabba crowd gets a bit rowdy. I’ve played a few games up there for Victoria and it’s been hard work. So I can’t imagine playing an international there when everyone’s against you. I’m sure it’ll be tough for him, but any game when it’s your first Test as captain is going to be a tough contest. No doubt we’ll make it a lot of hard work for him,” the Australian pacer concluded.
