"Prepare spinning wickets at your own demise" - Alyssa Healy warns Team India ahead of one-off Test
Australia's newly-appointed all-format captain Alyssa Healy has challenged Team India to prepare turning tracks ahead of the one-off Test in Mumbai later this month. Healy believes Australia have a potent spin-bowling unit and can trouble the hosts if the pitch favours it.
The Australian men's team lost the four-Test series earlier this year on Indian soil after playing on treacherous pitches that turned square. After losing the first two matches, the tourists pulled one back in the third Test, while the fourth resulted in a draw.
Speaking at a presser on Saturday, the keeper-batter boasted of having one of the best leg-spinners of this era in their team and thinks India will be wary of producing excessive turning tracks. As quoted by The Sydney Morning Herald, she stated:
"I’m actually really intrigued to see as to what sort of wickets they prepare. I think we’ve got a really, really good spin attack. So do that at your own peril. Don’t get me wrong, the Indians have got a strong spin attack as well. But I mean, we’ve got some of the best leg-spinners in the world. We’ve got Ash Gardener, who took nine wickets on English soil with the ball in hand. So yeah, prepare spinning wickets at your own demise."
The visitors have named three spinners in their squad apart from Gardner, with Alana King and Georgia Wareham as the other leggies. Veteran left-armer Jess Jonassen is also part of the touring party. The Test will be followed by three ODIs and as many T20Is.
"I’m on track to fly to India for a big series" - Alyssa Healy
Alyssa Healy suggested that staying at home doing nothing didn't give her much pleasure, but feels refreshed ahead of a big tour. The 33-year-old added:
"Everything is going really, really well. I started back in the nets over the last week and a half, so I’m on track to fly to India for a big series over there. I actually always thought I was a couch potato, but spending three weeks on the couch, not even being able to sweat, was a real struggle for me. It wasn’t much fun. But it gave me a little bit of time at home to just recoup, refresh and watch a lot of WBBL and the World Cup on Fox, then just get myself right to go."
Healy missed the WBBL this year due to a freak incident in the form of a dog bite.