New Delhi- Following a disappointing 3-0 home series loss against New Zealand, India captain Rohit Sharma has admitted that the team's batting form is a "cause for concern" ahead of the upcoming Border-Gavaskar Trophy against Australia. The four-match Test series, starting on November 22 in Perth, is crucial for India as they need to win at least four matches to qualify for the one-off Test at Lord's next year.

Rohit Sharma, quoted on the ICC website, acknowledged the team's batting struggles, saying, "It's a cause for concern without a doubt. If the batters are not performing, that is a significant issue." However, he emphasized the need to look forward and find solutions. "But what's done is done now. I think as a player, as a captain, and as a team, we all have to look forward and see how we can correct what we didn't manage to achieve here."

In preparation for the series, India has opted for match simulations against India A instead of a planned three-day practice match. This decision aims to maximize the batters' time at the crease and acclimatize to Australian conditions. "Rather than a practice match, we planned a match simulation with India A," explained Rohit. "I think sometimes when you play a practice match, we're traveling with a squad of 19 players, and there were only three days allotted to us. I don't know how much workload we can accomplish in those three days in terms of getting everyone prepared."

The Border-Gavaskar Trophy schedule is as follows:

* 1st Test: November 22-26 at Perth Stadium, Perth

* 2nd Test: December 6-10 at Adelaide Oval, Adelaide (Day/Night)

* 3rd Test: December 14-18 at The Gabba, Brisbane

* 4th Test: December 26-30 at Melbourne Cricket Ground, Melbourne

* 5th Test: January 3-7 at Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney

India's Test squad for the Australia series includes: Rohit Sharma (c), Jasprit Bumrah (vc), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant (wk), Sarfaraz Khan, Dhruv Jurel (wk), Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Siraj, Akash Deep, Prasidh Krishna, Harshit Rana, Nitish Kumar Reddy, and Washington Sundar.