The Border-Gavaskar Trophy is one of the most eagerly awaited Test series in history. The Indian national team has developed a fierce rivalry with Australia over the years, and every time the two teams meet, it is a spectacle to behold.

The first Test is set to begin on February 9 in Nagpur, and the Indian team has already begun their preparations. For the past three Border-Gavaskar Trophy editions, Australia has been unable to defeat India, and the Aussies would like to change that. Australian batter Steve Smith recently spoke out about his team not playing any tour matches prior to the series.

Smith believes that training alone would benefit Australia more than playing tour games on irrelevant Indian pitches. Ravichandran Ashwin took note of the Australian batter's comments and labelled them as mind games, which the Australians are notorious for. According to Steve Smith, they practised on a green top in 2017, but the match was played on a rank turner.

The right-handed batter believes that playing exhibition games is pointless because the pitches are different from those used in practise. Smith's comments, according to Ashwin, are the type of cricket and mind games that the Australian team likes to play before a series. He also stated that the Indian team has previously avoided playing warm-up matches due to its hectic schedule.

"'We got a green wicket in Brabourne and a completely opposite one in the first Test," Smith explained (during the 2017 series). To be fair, it was a crowd-pleaser in Pune. We could have given them the green route, but nobody plans for everything.

However, Australia are known for their mind games and sledges before a series. They love doing that. It's their style of cricket," Ashwin said while previewing the Border-Gavaskar Trophy on his YouTube channel.