"It won’t be easy to play Ashwin and Jadeja together" - Sourav Ganguly on ace all-rounder's return from injury

Sourav Ganguly believes the return of Ravindra Jadeja will strengthen Team India ahead of the first Test against Australia at the Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium in Nagpur, starting on Thursday, February 9.

Jadeja has been on the sidelines since August last year after suffering a freak injury during the 2022 Asia Cup. He recently returned to action during Saurashtra's Ranji Trophy fixture against Tamil Nadu to prove his fitness.

The ace all-rounder bowled 41.1 overs and picked up eight wickets, including a seven-wicket haul. He also scored 40 runs across two innings.

Ganguly feels the wickets in India will assist spinners and the Australian batters will find it difficult to tackle the spin duo of Ravichandran Ashwin and Jadeja.

"Spin is always important," the former BCCI president told Sportstar. "Look at the venues where you are playing - in Nagpur, it will offer bounce, in Ahmedabad will offer bounce, Delhi could be a bit flatter surface and then Dharamsala will again be a good wicket. It will assist the spinners - that’s always been the case in India.

"It won’t be easy to play Ashwin and Jadeja together. I don’t know whether they will play three spinners, or whether they have that luxury with Rishabh Pant not there. That’s a call Rahul will have to take. It’s a different ball game to be playing in India."

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Although Team India have the advantage of playing two quality spinners in Ashwin and Jadeja, Ganguly feels the hosts need to bat well as a unit.

"They have to bat well," the former Indian captain added. "I read somewhere in newspapers that it will be a good wicket. A good wicket will start turning on day three, and those are not rankers.

"It actually becomes difficult - for our batting as well. That’s why you’d see over the last three years, there hasn’t been too many Test hundreds because of the surface. I will be looking forward to seeing how it starts in Nagpur and with Rahul at the helm, I am sure we will be able to play on good wickets."

The Indian think tank will have a few key decisions to make on the batting front. Shubman Gill has made a strong case for retaining his spot as an opener after decent returns in the last Test series against Bangladesh. If he manages to keep his place, there will be a toss-up between KL Rahul and Suryakumar Yadav for the No. 5 spot.

"I still consider India to win" - Sourav Ganguly

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While Team India are a difficult side to beat at home, Australia boast several players who have experience playing in the sub-continent. The visitors had a short camp in Alur before reaching Nagpur ahead of the first Test, which starts on Thursday, February 9.

Despite agreeing that the Aussies have a strong side, Ganguly backed India to retain the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.

"It’s going to be a great series," Ganguly continued. "You look forward to such series. As a player and now obviously to watch. Australia is a terrific side and has a very good bowling attack, although a couple of them are injured at the start of the series. They still have enough backups and are a good batting unit, which is important in these conditions. But I still consider India to win."

The series is also of utmost importance for Team India as they chase a berth in the World Cup Test Championship (WTC) final for the second consecutive time.

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