IND vs AUS: Getting solid first innings totals key to Australia winning, says Johnson

Beating India in India is as tough a challenge as it can get and few teams over the years have been able to accomplish the feat, not just in Test cricket but across formats. The Indian team after all, has not lost a Test series on home soil for more than a decade, and only thrice have they been beaten in a Test series at home this millennium.

Australia will be well aware of those statistics and the threat that the Rohit Sharma-led side poses on its own turf. The Aussies, after all, have not beaten the Indians in a Test series in eight years, having last won the Border-Gavaskar Trophy at home in 2014-15.

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Former Australia pacer Mitchell Johnson knows a thing or two about touring India, having been part of the 2008, 2010 and 2013 editions of BGT, and offered the Pat Cummins-led side advice on taking the challenge to the hosts in the upcoming series that begins in Nagpur later this week.

“If the Aussies can bat first a couple of times early in the series, at venues which are expected to take a fair bit of spin, and get good first-innings totals on the board that will put a bit of pressure back onto India,” Johnson wrote in his column on The West Australian.

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Johnson, one of Australia’s most successful bowlers of all time with 330 Test wickets to his name, added that while Team India would be wary of veteran off-spinner Nathan Lyon’s prowess, they would in no way be intimidated by his presence.

“The Aussies have taken over four spinners and while the Indians would respect Nathan Lyon’s experience and Test record, they wouldn’t be fearing any of them. Indian batsmen use their feet well and hit spin very correctly,” Johnson added in his column.

The first of four Tests in this year’s Border-Gavaskar Trophy begins on Thursday, 9 February at Nagpur’s Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium. Delhi, Dharamsala and Ahmedabad are scheduled to host the remaining games of the series.

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