IND vs AUS 2023: Virat Kohli, Cheteshwar Pujara Start Preparing For Border-Gavaskar Trophy; Check Pictures

Less than a week remains before the eyes of the cricket world will be fixated on the Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium in Nagpur where two fierce opponents India and Australia will start writing the latest chapter of their storied rivalry. The Pat Cummins-led Australia have landed in India as the world’s top-ranked Test team and are aiming to end their first series win in the country since 2004.

The likes of Steve Smith and Marnus Labuschagne have already started practicing in Bengaluru with the tourists roping in an Ashwin-clone to aid their preparations. Ravichandran Ashwin has been Australia’s nemesis on Indian soil and is expected to be a major threat to their dreams of conquering the final frontier.

The Indian team on the other hand has had a short break after starting their calendar year with a heavy dose of limited-overs cricket that saw their players appearing in six ODIs and as many T20Is in the span of a month.

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Few were rested from the T20Is to keep them fresh for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy while a couple of them were absent on account of personal engagements.

The Test squad has started gathering in Nagpur with the team conducting their first net session on Friday as BCCI shared pictures of Virat Kohli, Cheteshwar Pujara, KL Rahul and the fit-again Ravindra Jadeja polishing their batting.

“#TeamIndia have begun their preparations for the Border Gavaskar Trophy ahead of the 1st Test in Nagpur,” BCCI declared via their Twitter handle on Friday afternoon.

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The last time India played a Test was during Bangladesh tour last month where they completed a 2-0 clean sweep in testing conditions. The Rohit Sharma-led side will be aiming to continue the good work but are aware of the stern challenge that Australia will present.

The second Test will starts from February 17 in Delhi, the third from March 1 in Dharamsala while the fourth will be played in Ahmedabad from March 9 onwards.

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