Even before they make the long haul Down Under, most teams are beaten in the mind. The prospect of taking on the World Champions in their own backyard is both daunting and intimidating. Anil Kumble's men are, however, cut from a different stone. They have to be beaten on the park, simple as that.

As they kick off their long tour of Australia at the Junction Oval in Melbourne on Thursday, India are aware of the magnitude of the task that awaits them. Anywhere in the world, Australia are the team to beat, the only side that can claim to travel as well as it plays at home. Ricky Ponting's men are currently riding the crest of a wave — again — after having stormed to 14 consecutive Test wins, just two shy of their own record 16 wins on the trot.

It will not be out of place to recall who ended that 16-match streak. Pushed to the wall, India bounced back in the most extraordinary fashion at the Eden Gardens in early 2001 to scuttle Steve Waugh's designs of conquering the Final Frontier. It needed out-of-the-world heroics from VVS Laxman, Rahul Dravid and Harbhajan Singh for India to convert definite defeat into incredible success. That triumph gave India, and the cricketing world, the confidence that the Aussies too were made of flesh and bones, and they were as susceptible to pressure as anyone else.

Saying that, India can ill afford to bank on sporadic shows of individual brilliance to pull the rug from under the Aussies' feet. Collective effort will have to be the mantra, a fact that will not be lost either on the captain himself, or an experienced batting line-up that comprises three former skippers.

Mountain of runs

India's performances overseas have depended almost entirely on the health of their batting. Admittedly, you need to take 20 wickets to win a Test match, but India's bowlers invariably up their game a notch or three when they have a mountain of runs to play with. Particularly with a supremely inexperienced back-up set of quicks, the need for the batsmen to don their scoring shoes right from the beginning becomes paramount. Against an attack that could so easily read Lee, Tait, Johnson and Clark, that might appear easier said than done, but not for nothing are India reputed to possess the best middle-order in international cricket.

Kumble will need every member of the batting order to pitch in, but no one is more important in the Indian scheme of things than Rahul Dravid. Dravid hasn't been amongst the big runs — worryingly, he has got off to starts but failed to convert them — but he will necessarily have to rediscover his stoic, immovable best for India to erect impressive edifices. In a line-up replete with stroke-makers who have shown in the recent past that they are not afraid to play their strokes, Dravid's prolonged presence is a non-negotiable must.

His rock-like presence will have twin effects. Whilst his barn-door defence can demoralise the best of bowling attacks, his occupation of the crease will also allow the stroke-players to bat around him with the freedom that is necessary to give the Aussies a run for their money. The Australians are past masters at hunting in a pack and moving in for the kill at the slightest hint of indecision and hesitancy in the opposition ranks. India must not concede an inch, because then Ponting's men will be all over them like a bad rash, seeking more than a quarter.

Most certainly like Kumble, Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly, Dravid will be on his last tour of Australia. Four years back, he was at the forefront of India's epochal four-wicket win in Adelaide, following up a memorable 233 in the first innings with an equally crucial unbeaten 70 in the second. In 2003-04, India's batting was at its sublime best, Virender Sehwag setting the tone with his unconventional pyrotechnics at the top of the tree, VVS Laxman showcasing his liking for the Australian attack with two stunning centuries, and Dravid, Tendulkar and Ganguly all contributing handsomely.

The core group has remained the same, with Yuvraj Singh emerging as another strong attacking option in the middle-order. Sehwag's dip in form has been compensated for through the grace and solidity of Wasim Jaffer. As much as Dravid's reassuring presence, the openers must blunt the new ball and set the platform for the middle-order to build on. India's confidence is high after outclassing Pakistan in the home series. Australia are never short on confidence, not even after the retirement of such giants as Shane Warne, Glenn McGrath and Justin Langer.

The acrimonious one-day series of October, when words flew thick and fast and cricket was almost reduced to a side-show, is a thing of the past. Kumble's dignified leadership will prevent a degeneration of relationships, aided by the absence of the excitable S Sreesanth, an exceptional talent threatening to self-destruct. That said, India will miss  Sreesanth the paceman, more than a handful when he keeps his focus solely on cricket.

His absence through injury places a huge responsibility on born-again Zaheer Khan, and on the skipper himself, just 16 shy of 600 Test wickets. In his brief reign to date, the 37-year-old Kumble has positively relished the challenges of captaincy. Australia will be a different cup of tea altogether, but India will not be found wanting either in effort or preparation.

Advantage Australia, some may say overwhelmingly so, but India are no longer the poor travellers they are still being made out to be. A Test series triumph in the Antipodes might appear far-fetched, but this could just be the season of hope!










FACTS DOWN UNDER

*It was on August 15, 1947 India attained its rightful freedom and within four months, India embarked on an Australian tour under Lala Amarnath to play first ever series against Don Bradman’s Invincibles.
*B S Chandrasekhar, the ace leg-spinner, returned home after a leg injury after the second Test in 1967-68 series. His replacement was a batsman — M L Jaisimha, who arrived just in time for the third Test at Brisbane and scored 74 and 101.
*It is unusual for a team to suffer defeat after scoring over 700 runs in a Test. That was what happened to India in the second Test in 1977-78.  India scored 402 in the first innings and declared at 330/9 and lost by 2 wickets.
*The 1991-92 series saw the appointment of a match referee by the ICC. Former England captain MJK Smith received the honour.

Compiled by K R Gururaja Rao