IND vs AUS: Mitchell Starc opens up on the challenge of playing in the upcoming Border-Gavaskar Trophy

The Pat Cummins-led Australian cricket team is all set to tour India for the highly-anticipated Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2023, scheduled to start in Nagpur on February 09. The four-match Test battle will be quite crucial for both sides as they look to confirm their places in the World Test Championship (WTC) final.

The contest between Indians and the Aussies has always been eye-catching, and speedster Mitchell Starc has said that the upcoming Border-Gavaskar series is going to be a great challenge. While speaking to Erin Holland at the Australia Cricket Awards, Starc asserted how one could never guess what the Indian conditions would possess before mentioning about the challenge for the Australian team.

“I guess you never really know what to expect from the conditions in India, but we have a fair idea that it is obviously going to turn. You never quite know until you start the game or decide which wicket to play on. So, it is going to be a great challenge,” said Starc.

Notably, Starc, who is part of the Aussie squad for the India tour, is expected to miss the series opener as the pacer continues to recover from his left index finger injury that ruled him out of the third Test against South Africa in Sydney. The New South Wales paceman reckoned his team is in a decent position, adding that some good cricket is coming up in the next couple of months.

“The team is in as good a position that we can be heading into an Indian tour. It’s exciting with the women going for the World Cup, and we have a long tour of India. So plenty of good cricket to watch over the next couple of months, so we’re just wishing for some good success for Australia,” Starc added.

Australia’s Test squad for the tour of India:

Pat Cummins (captain), Ashton Agar, Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Cameron Green, Peter Handscomb, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Lance Morris, Todd Murphy, Matthew Renshaw, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Mitchell Swepson, David Warner.