Australia 'A' team skipper Peter Handscomb feels India and Australia are both 'fiery nations'
Following a disappointing end to the quadrangular series which saw them getting beaten by India ‘A’ for the third successive time in a tournament final, Australia ‘A’ skipper Peter Handscomb wants to look ahead to the upcoming two four-day contests against the same opponents.
In an interview with cricket.com.au, the 25-year old also played down the animosity between the two teams and attributed the tension in the atmosphere to their competitive members.
Handscomb quipped, “It's still pretty feisty. I think any game between Australia and India tends to fire up a bit. We're both fiery nations and we enjoy getting into the contest in every game. It should be a great contest and it'll be fought hard on the ground, but once you're off the ground it's all pretty amicable.“
Hailed as one of the standout prospects among those who are next in line, the right-hander has shown signs of tackling the turning ball reasonably well. With a tour to India in the horizon, a revamped Test squad may see him get into the selectors’ plans.
However, he insisted, “I don't try to take any of it too seriously because ultimately my job at the moment is to just try and score runs for Australia A and then go back to Victoria. I tend to read it a bit just to see what's out there and what's going on rather than letting my mind wander about what's being said. And if that job title changes and I go up a level, then hopefully I can take that opportunity.”
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Elaborating on his spin-playing potential, Handscomb reiterated that the focus would be on performing consistently in the first-class circuit against all types of bowling and not restricting his skill-set.
The Victorian believed, “I feel quite confident against spin, but that's not to say I could definitely go over to Sri Lanka and do any better than what the boys just did. Because conditions are tough and (Sri Lanka) are a very, very good side in their own conditions. But, I do pride myself on my spin play and I'll work on that at every training session to make sure I can get better.”
He added, “But on the flip side, I'm batting at No.4 for Victoria and have done now for a couple of years on Australian wickets so most of the time I'm facing quicks. I don't want people thinking I can only play spin and I can't play quicks because I spend more time facing quicks than I do anything else.”
The two four-day matches are scheduled at Allan Border Field in Brisbane on 8th and 15th. However, Handscomb has been selected only for the first game with Joe Burns taking over the captaincy for the subsequent one.