Australia pacer James Pattinson felt India still have a strong batting line-up despite the retirements of Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman and the visitors will have to work hard to beat the hosts during the four-Test series starting from February 22
Class batting line-up
“It’s different (batting line-up) from the one we played last. Again, it’s a class batting line-up and the Indians would look to prove us wrong. It’s a fantastic line-up with Sachin Tendulkar in form after a Ranji (Trophy) ton. Virender Sehwag can do anything on his day. It’s good to see Dravid and Laxman not out there. We are looking forward to the challenging conditions,” Pattinson said.
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“It’s going to be a good battle. We are not going to get friendly conditions like we did in Australia. We bowled quite well over there, so to come here and to do well is something that would be great,” he added.
Pattinson lavished praise on Jammu and Kashmir off-spinner Parvez Rasool, who was a star performer for the Board President’s XI by grabbing seven Australian wickets on Tuesday.
“I think he (Rasool) bowled very well on the wicket and it turned quite a bit. He bowled a lot of overs as well,” he said.