Strategy is more focused on newer Indian players in Border-Gavaskar Trophy (BGT): Josh Hazlewood

New Delhi: Australia fast-bowler Josh Hazlewood has said that his team’s strategy for this year’s Border-Gavaskar Trophy will be focused more towards the newer players in the Indian team who they haven’t played much against in Test cricket.

“The strategy is probably more focused on the newer players we haven’t played much Test cricket against, like Jaiswal and even Shubman Gill, who we’ve only faced a few times. We’ve played against Virat, Rohit, and others for years, so we know what to do,” said Hazlewood to Star Sports.

The 2024/25 Border-Gavaskar Trophy will see India and Australia play Test matches in Perth, Adelaide (pink-ball match), Brisbane, Melbourne, and Sydney from November 22 to January 7, 2025. India has won Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Australia the last two times it was played here in 2018/19 and 2020/21.

Hazlewood, who was a member of the Australian team winning 2014/15 Border-Gavaskar Trophy on home soil, feels the execution of plans is another focus point for Australia in the longer format.

“The plan doesn’t really change that often. It’s about the basics — doing them well and for a long time. We usually find that, 9 out of 10 times, Test cricket comes back to that Plan A. You adapt to conditions and change things throughout the day or innings, but most of the time, it’s about executing that plan.”

This year’s Border-Gavaskar Trophy will also be the first five-match Test series between India and Australia since 1991/92. Before the marquee series starts on November 22 in Perth, India will also have its A team play two four-day matches against Australia A at Great Barrier Reef Arena in Mackay (October 31 to November 3) and the MCG (November 7-10), followed by an intra-squad India match to take place at the WACA Ground, Perth from November 15-17. IANS

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