IAN CHAPPELL

A loss in the first T20 confirmed for India the first rule of touring Australia --- never underestimate the opposition.

No matter how depleted the Australian squad may be or how much chaos surrounds it, the players will give their all on the field. Many sides touring Australia have failed to observe the rule that should be etched on their boarding pass --- try to win every game, especially those leading to the first Test. The last touring side that obeyed that principle was Andrew Strauss’s England in 2010-11. Their performance in the warm-up matches was an influencing factor in an eventual 3-1 Test series victory.

India need to be vigilant when facing an inexperienced Cricket Australia XI in Sydney as they should be in no doubt that their opponents will be out to win. In the early 1990s, touring teams were regularly ambushed by talented Cricket Academy sides that included players like Ponting and Mcgrath and it deflated them.

In their lone tour game, India will have to acclimatise quickly to the extra bounce on Australian pitches. The hardest adjustment for any batsman is going from low bouncing pitches.

This leads to one of the biggest challenges when batting in Australia; how to score runs off the backfoot. Players who are adept at playing the horizontal bat shots often have success in Australian conditions.

With Australia looking to temper their on-field behaviour after the ball-tampering debacle, the Indians better believe while this may result in a reduction in verbals, there will be no let-up on the