'Indians are tough to beat in Twenty20'

Australia may have had a wood on India in recent times at home, but their skipper George Bailey termed India as very tough opponents, especially in sub-continental conditions.

“Look that Test series and the one-day matches will not hold any relevance now,” noted Bailey on Thursday, referring to Australia’s whitewash of India in Tests Down Under and their title triumph in the Commonwealth Bank tri-series. “We are proud of the record we have at home. I always thought that the conditions and the way India have played Twenty20 over the last few years, if anyone is tough then it is certainly them,” he stressed.

Harbhajan Singh has had some duels with the Australians and has come on top on a fair number of occasions. “The thing we have spoken about is not to focus on just one player,” Bailey said when asked about facing the off-spinner. “We can’t focus on anyone of the Indian bowlers. They are all great bowlers,” he remarked.

Bailey denied that his team was over-dependent on all-rounder Shane Watson. “I don’t know whether you can call it over-dependence on Watson just because he has performed well in both the games,’’ he offered. “He is a very good player, he is good with the ball and he is an outstanding batsman. He is one of the players that opponents fear about when they run into him. At the moment, one of his strengths is his consistency, so he is dependable but I am not sure if we are over-dependent on him,” he elaborated.