As much as the recent focus has been on the vulnerability of India’s batting, Australia’s top-order has managed to fly under the radar without uncomfortable scrutiny. Given his recent record leading upto his retirement, India may even be rueful that David Warner has been replaced, most probably by the technically excellent Nathan McSweeney, who is a star in the making.  For all his bristle and aggro, Warner’s last 10 Tests averaged about 26 if you remove one big innings of 166 against a poor Pakistan attack in Perth.  If that was an Indian opener, the local media here would be relentlessly targeting that weak point.

Look deeper and there are cracks in Australia’s armour. Neither Usman Khawaja nor Steve Smith have scored a Test century since June 2023 and Marnus Labuschagne has only one hundred in his last 10 innings.  That is encouraging for India, but also a warning - how long will players of this calibre keep missing out?  But if that’s the argument which is being peddled, the same latitude needs to be allowed to someone of Virat Kohli’s class.  His record in Australia suggests that a big series is statistically likely except for the big curve ball - age!  Many of the key batsmen in this series are no spring chickens, so past records may not be the most accurate predictor this time around.