Australia bowler Kane Richardson says coach Andrew McDonald went out at the Wankhede Stadium on Saturday night to check on dew as Australia players prepared to practice with wet balls for the upcoming series against India.
“Andrew McDonald camped out here last night to try and see what time the dew came in. Who knows, everyone is guessing. I think everyone is prepared,” Richardson said. “We’re going to train today with some wet balls so we can practice that. We’ll just wait and see on game day. It’s nothing new, we have dew back home as well.”
He said India are the favourites at home, calling his team the underdogs for the three-match ODI series which will begin on Tuesday. The second ODI will be played in Rajkot on January 17 and the third in Bengaluru on January 19 respectively.
“I think the home team is always favourite. I think on the back of last year, I think Finchy (Aaron Finch) has said no team has ever won here back to back. It’s going to be so hard,” Richardson said. “India in India is always the biggest challenge and after what happened last year they will be ready for it. Confidence is up but the home team is always favourite. We are the underdogs.”
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Last year, Australia had won the ODI series by 3-2 against India after losing the first two games.
“It’s the biggest challenge in white-ball cricket, coming over here and playing against India on the surfaces over here. It’s a lot different than Australia. The ground sizes are a lot smaller than Australia, (and) mis-hits can often go for six,” he told.
“It’s something we have spoken a lot about. I think everyone in the team has played here before, so it’s nothing new. Starting today we will figure out a plan to stop some of those guys. It will be a high-scoring contest I’m sure,” shared the right-arm medium pacer.
Australia came with a stunning pace attack comprising Josh Hazlewood, Pat Cummins and Mitchell Starc, apart from Kane Richardson.
“It would be nice to take the field with all three of them or a couple of them. I don’t know how it’s going to pan out in terms of selection. I’m comfortable being that next guy in. I have always spoken about if injuries or form happen being the next guy in. So if I could take the field with those guys it gives you a lot of confidence that hopefully when I come onto bowl there are two or three down early,” he added.
“I think it was just through performance on field. You can improve away from the game all you want but I think it was just about performing. The Big Bash last year after doing well got me back in the fold and then injuries happened. And then try and be the next guy in. Always try and stay on top of my game and improve but I’m back in this team because I performed at the level below,” the pacer added.
