In the absence of Steve Smith and David Warner, the Australian Test side is not looking as menacing and thus, there is this prevalent opinion that this can be India's best chance to win a series Down Under.
Despite the scoreline in South Africa and England, India's fast-bowlers drew special praise for their stupendous performance and as such, they are primed to get the better of a rather fragile Australian batting order. Mohammed Shami has said that although Australia's balance is not the same, the Indian team will stick to their plans.
'We have to work on our strengths'
"If those two don't play (Steve Smith, David Warner), they will obviously be weakened. But in the end, you have to stick to your plan and work on your strengths," Shami said.
The fast-bowler added that the bowling attack would focus on hitting the right line and length and would look to keep probing away with discipline.
"As a fast bowling unit, we did well in England. We are preparing for the Australia series and watching a lot of videos. The plan is to focus on the series as much as possible as the opponents are very strong. We will work on getting the line and lengths right," Shami added.
The Bengal fast-bowler has the backing of captain Virat Kohli but has not been able to string together a number of consistent performances and this can be a problematic area for India. In England, when the conditions were ripe for the seamers, Shami picked up 16 wickets.
Former Indian seamer Ashish Nehra also heaped praise on Shami and said that he has the ability to take five wickets when he gets in the groove.
Former Australian quick Jeff Thomson too believes that the Indian bowling attack has the pedigree to steamroll the Australians in the upcoming series.
"You (India) have a solid team, a very good fast bowling unit and you should win if you play hard in the upcoming series. There is no reason why you should not steamroll Australia which will be without Smith and Warner," Thomson had said earlier this month.
