Battle of bowlers key: Fleming

DAMIEN Fleming may be a proud Victorian but he is right behind the all-New South Wales Australian bowling attack.

Fleming is the world’s leading ‘bowlologist’ and a staunch member of Australia’s fast bowling cartel, who he says has Glenn McGrath as “president” and “Jason Gillespie taking notes at our AGM”.

“We love everyone ... We look after each other,” said Fleming ahead of the first Test against India starting in Adelaide today.

Australian pace trio Mitch Starc, Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood will be key for the hosts against the much-vaunted Indian batting line-up and Fleming (pictured) is tipping them to excel.

“Geez, they’re quick. They all the move the ball as well,” he said.

“We can get our 20 wickets (a Test), it’s just whether we can score enough runs.”

One-time swing king Fleming has also watched the Indian attack closely, and believes they are in better form than their batting stars.

“To be fair to the Indians, this is probably the best pace attack they have brought out to Australia,” he said.

“They will actually have a couple of unlucky players (miss out on selection).”

Jasprit Bumrah, who has taken 25 wickets in just six Tests, is one player who has caught Fleming’s eye.

“He stutters up, his action is all over the place, bowls over a brace front leg, he hyperextends a bit with his bowling arm ... (but) he bowls over 140(kmh), he’s bouncy, can move the bowl (and) got a good bouncer and yorker,” he said.

Fleming said there has been an emphasis in India in recent years to develop pace bowlers and not rely so heavily on their spinners such as Ravi Ashwin, who will go head to head to Australian counterpart Nathan Lyon. “They want to dominate in all areas, not just at home,” he said.

“They’ve now got a pace attack that took wickets in South Africa, got wickets in England.

“It was probably the batsman that let them down a little bit.”

Fleming is tipping Australia to win the series 2-1, provided experienced pair Usman Khawaja and Shaun Marsh pull their weight in the Aussie middle order.

But he stressed, “It’s certainly the biggest challenge we've ever had in Australia against India,” he said.