India will face a challenging start to their Border-Gavaskar Trophy campaign as the pitch at Optus Stadium has been prepared to provide “good bounce and pace,” a characteristic of the traditionally fiery tracks in Perth. The opening Test of the series is set to begin on November 22, with both teams gearing up for a high-intensity contest.

The Indian team will head into the match without having played any practice games, as they canceled an intra-squad match originally scheduled from November 15 to 17. Instead, India will focus on center-wicket training at the nearby WACA stadium, where both the Indian and Australian teams will fine-tune their preparations for the Test.

The curator’s warning about the pitch indicates a demanding challenge for the Indian batsmen, who will need to adjust quickly to the conditions in order to succeed in the fast and bouncy conditions that are typical of Perth.