NEW DELHI: Former Australian captain Ian Chappell has said the coming IPL season will be good practice for India’s players ahead of their highly anticipated series Down Under in December.

Indian and international cricketers — including several Australians — are currently in the United Arab Emirates ahead of the virus-delayed Indian Premier League Twenty20 tournament which starts on Sept 19.

The novel coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic halted major sporting events around the world with players forced indoors and unable to train with the team-mates.

Virus concerns mean India are unlikely to have any practice games before they tour Australia for four Tests and three One-day Internationals in December-January.

“With venue bubbles, isolation rules, social distancing, and a number of changes to playing conditions, adapting to international competition has been testing for players,” Chappell wrote on the Cricinfo website. “It’s made life difficult and different even in a team environment but imagine the individual’s dilemma in enforced isolation with a tour looming.”

But those cricketers taking part in the T20 competition at least have some challenging IPL cricket” in the lead-up to the series, Chappell added.

Chappell cited the example of former England batsman Ravi Bopara, who he said used the IPL matches to lift his game. He went on to score back-to-back centuries on the West Indies tour in 2009.

The series for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy is a part of the ICC Test Championship, which India leads ahead of Tim Paine’s Australia.

Published in Dawn, September 14th, 2020