"Once Kohli became the captain, there was a vision in place"- Former Indian selector on Australia's lack of preparation

Former Indian selector Saba Karim feels Australia should have learned from how India prepared themselves for their tours down under. He shed light on how captain Virat Kohli wanted to form a pace battery that was successful in all conditions.

Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, and Ishant Sharma were crucial in India's historic Test series win down under. The visitors achieved the same feat two years later, this time with an injury-prone team, which showed just how fast bowling culture had taken over Indian cricket.

Speaking to India News, here's what Saba Karim had to say about Australia's preparations for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2023:

"Australia didn't prepare well enough for the tour. Even we used to keep on losing on our tours there. But then once Kohli became the captain, there was a vision in place that we will prepare a pace battery of 4-5 bowlers and groom them to pick wickets on those tracks and that helped us win on both the previous tours."

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Australia just can't bring any spinner and hope for a miracle: Saba Karim

Saba Karim opined that just as India identified their fast bowlers for overseas tours, the Aussies should have shortlisted the spinners that they wanted to bring to Indian shores to win the Test series.

He feels the visitors have just picked random spinners and are hoping they could make an impact. On this, Karim stated:

"They had just begun preparations for the series 1-2 months before the tour. You just can't do that. You had to start the process 1-2 years before and groom your spinners whom you would bring on this tour. Murphy hasn't played a first-class game. Lyon doesn't bowl at the ideal speed to be successful in India. You just can't bring any spinner and hope for a miracle."

The visitors have flown in left-arm spinner Matthew Kuhnemann, who could make his Test debut in Delhi On February 17.

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