India’s Test tour of Australia is one year away but Australia captain Tim Paine on Sunday took a dig at his counterpart Virat Kohli, saying they will seek his “permission” to start the Test series in Brisbane and may even play a day-night match “if he is in good mood”.
India had refused to play a day-night Test against Australia last year in Adelaide, while Kohli’s men on Sunday wrapped up a pink ball match against Bangladesh inside seven sessions in Kolkata.
The Gabba has long been the venue where Australia start their home Test series but it was abandoned for the four-match series against India last year as the matches were held at the venues of Melbourne, Sydney, Adelaide and Perth.
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India will tour Australia for a four-match Test series from November 2020 to January 2021.
“Yeah, well, we will be certainly trying. We will have to run that by Virat (Kohli). We will get an answer from him at some stage I’m sure. That’s where we like to start our summer and it has been for a long long time except for last summer,” Paine said when asked if Australia would want to start the Border-Gavaskar series at Brisbane.
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“As I said, we’ll ask Virat and see if we can get his permission to play here and maybe even get a pink-ball Test if he’s in a good mood. So we’ll wait and see,” he said after Australia beat Pakistan by an innings and five runs.
Paine said starting the season at Gabba does not win matches but allows them to settle down a little quicker.
“The reason we win games of cricket in the Gabba is because we outplay our opposition, that does not change depending on the venue,” he said.
“The venue does not matter, it is about skill and execution. But certainly, we enjoy playing here which allows you to settle into the game a little quicker.”
Australia are touring India for a three-match ODI series in January next year.