The MA Chidambaram Stadium: Perth Scorchers head coach Adam Voges looks to pick the brain of Chennai Super Kings' batting coach Michael Hussey to learn about the unexpected Chepauk surface, which will be hosting the first match of the Big Bash League 2026-27.
The MA Chidambaram Stadium will host the BBL opener on December 12 between Sorchers and Melbourne Renegades, which marks the first instance of the BBL taking place outside Australia. The teams will have to encounter the unknown conditions of Chennai before they head to Australia for the remainder of the tournament.
The Chepauk has behaved differently than expected in the last few years, with CSK captain Ruturaj Gaikwad having conceded that he was confounded by the surface, while the East Zone skipper Ishan Kishan and South Zone captain Tilak Varma also expected turn from the surface in the Duleep Trophy final; however, there was none.
"I live just down the road from Mike Hussey," Voges said as quoted by Cricinfo. "So I'll be leaning on all the contacts in order to understand the conditions and Chennai itself as best we can, and hopefully make the experience and the trip a really successful one, on and off the field."
Scorchers have a few players in their squad who have experience of playing the IPL, with the likes of Mitchell Marsh and Cooper Connolly having experienced success too. Meanwhile, several of their players have no experience of Indian conditions.
"Yeah, I think it's going to be new for everyone, and that's the exciting part," Voges said. "That's the great challenge for all of us. And certainly, for us from a Scorchers perspective, we have a number of players who will be coming who have experience in the conditions over here.
"We've got a number of hopefully IPL stars in Mitchell Marsh and Cooper Connolly that will certainly hopefully be part of our squad that comes over. Ashton Turner and Jhye Richardson are another couple of guys who have played in the conditions as well," he said.
"Yeah, I think it's going to be new for everyone, and that's the exciting part," Voges said. "That's the great challenge for all of us. And certainly, for us from a Scorchers perspective, we have a number of players who will be coming who have experience in the conditions over here.
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"So, I'm certainly going to be leaning on those experiences as well, and to be able to try and communicate those experiences, particularly to a few of our younger guys, because there'll be a few of our guys that this will be their first experience in India and in these conditions. And so just trying to upskill them as quickly as we possibly can to give them the best chance to go out and succeed and put on a good show."