Australia Cricket / Andrew Hughes / 18 September 2008 / Leave a comment

A combination of heat, street food and spin has been the ruin of many a Test team touring India but times and tracks are changing and the Aussies will be well prepared for this winter's series, says Andrew Hughes.

Later this month, Australia head to India for a Test series that promises some quality cricket, a fair helping of drama and perhaps a sprinkling of controversy.

Historically, tours of India have been regarded as tests not just of cricket ability but physical and mental endurance. The great Australian teams of the last twenty years regarded it as their 'final frontier' and victory there in 2004 was celebrated as the pinacle of Aussie cricket history. Certainly the stats seem to suggest that touring India is a tricky proposition. In the last twenty years, there have been twenty-seven Test series hosted by India, of which they have lost only two.

But the way some former Test cricketers talk about India, you'd have thought it was another planet. Horrifically vivid stories of various kinds of stomach ailments crop up regularly in cricket biographies, along with tales of dodgy hotels, relentless travelling, raucous supporters and sharp practice from administrators, umpires and groundsmen. And the pitches are invariably remembered as lifeless featherbeds in which touring teams are slowly ground into the dust by a combination of heat, humidity and spin.

But how much of this still applies? Well, it is surprising that even now tours of India seem to feature outbreaks of stomach-related incapacity. No matter how stringent the management instructions on what not to eat, there is always someone who thinks it a good idea to sample the local street food.

But generally speaking, international cricketers are much more well-travelled these days and less likely to land in India as wide-eyed innocents encountering exotic climes for the first time. For example, of the current Australian squad, though only four have played Test cricket in India, every single one of them have played some form of cricket there, whether it is a one day international, an A tour match or the IPL. Cricket Australia in recent years have been particularly keen to send their fringe players and youngsters on tours of the subcontinent to enable them to acclimatise.

So why does touring India remain such a challenge? The pitches may have something to do with it. Indian wickets do still tend to be slow, dusty and receptive to spin. Pace bowlers don't often thrive there, as illustrated by Brett Lee's relatively poor one-day record in India (he is yet to play a Test there). By contrast, metronomically accurate bowlers in the Stuart Clark mode can do well. Likewise, batsmen who like to get on with it or are vulnerable to high-class spin can struggle. Ricky Ponting's Test average in India is a surprising twelve.

But punters should be wary of assuming all the pitches will be the same. This year's South African tour saw three Tests on three different wickets: a flat one, a green one and one that span prodigiously. And with their increasing seam bowling resources, it may sometimes be in India's interests these days to produce the odd green wicket. Nagpur in particular, venue for the fourth Test, may well offer some assistance for the seamers.

The humidity in the northern venues (Delhi and Mohali) and the heat in Nagpur and Bangalore will be significant, but these days teams are well-prepared for it and I don't expect this to be a huge problem for the Aussies.

I think the main reason why India remains such a fortress is simply that they are a pretty good team. Their batting line up has been for some time the equal of the Australians, they have two fine spinners in Harbajhan and Kumble and now a clutch of decent quicks.

Australia will look to the likes of Hayden, Clarke and Katich, who boast good records in India whilst Hussey has the required patience to succeed. Where they could struggle is in their bowling, particularly if Lee doesn't thrive. It isn't a lack of Indian experience so much as Test experience that could prove their downfall, with Johnson, Bollinger, McGain, Krejza and Siddle all green at this level.

Which make the current odds on the first Test slightly perplexing. Australia are [2.58] favourites with an Indian win at a rather high [3.45]. Those who are thinking of playing the draw at [2.4] should be aware that eight of the last ten matches in Bangalore have seen a result.