‘Wet balls’ - Australia’s approach to counter dew factor against India revealed

India vs Australia: The Virat Kohli-led Indian side will play a three-match ODI series against Australia starting next week.

After completing a scintilliating T20I series win over Sri Lanka, Virat Kohli’s men will get ready to play three-match ODI series against Australia starting next week. The first ODI between the two teams will be played on Tuesday at Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai, and both the teams have already begun training at the ground for what promises to be a cracker of a contest. To prepare for the conditions in Mumbai, Australia stand-in coach Andrew McDonald used some unique methods.

Australian captain Aaron Finch along with his teammates during a training session. (PTI)

The dew factor is expected to play a massive role at Wankhede on Tuesday, and to understand the conditions, coach McDonald “camped out” at the stadium on Sunday. The visitors are also training with wet balls to prepare themselves for the dew factor.

“Andrew McDonald camped out here last night to try and see what time the dew came in,” Aussie seamer Kane Richardson revealed on Sunday.

“Who knows, everyone is guessing. I think everyone is prepared. We’re going to train today with some wet balls so we can practice that. We’ll just wait and see on game day. It’s nothing new, we have dew back home as well,” he added.

In January last year, Australia stunned Kohli & Co. after a comeback 3-2 series win. India won the first two matches in the series. But Aaron Finch-led side bounced back with three straight wins to seal the series. Despite the result, Richardson stilled pegged India to be favourites in their home conditions.

“I think the home team is always favourite. I think on the back of last year, I think Finchy (Aaron Finch) has said no team has ever won here back to back. It’s going to be so hard,” he said.