Australian captain Ricky Ponting has urged his players to disregard India's unimpressive Champions Trophy form, warning the No.2 ranked One-day outfit will be a vastly different team on home soil.
The Australians left Sydney on Monday ahead of their seven match ODI series against India beginning on October 25.
The stage is set, the battle lines are drawn and the war of words has already begun. But when Australian skipper Ricky Ponting embarked on his mission India, the aggressive batsman took a cautious approach.
Instead of using his favourite mental disintegration tactics, the punter sounded a bit of wary. He said, "They'll be particularly hard to beat in India. They definitely play a lot better at home than they do when they travel. I actually tipped them as one of the strongest sides for the Champions Trophy to tell the truth."
A convincing 6-1 victory over England, followed by an emphatic Champions Trophy triumph, the World Champions are surely riding high on their success. But the Tasmanian is not taking Mahendra Singh Dhoni's boys lightly.
He added, "I noticed that they have made a few changes to their squad as well as for the games with us. We will obviously be missing Michael Clarke and Nathan Bracken again, and Callum Ferguson being out as well means that the younger guys will get an opportunity to set up again."
Though his skipper is not hoping for his early comeback, Clarke is desperate to return to his happy hunting ground. With the top spot in One-day cricket up for grabs and pride at stake, Ponting remained wary of the Indians. And the right-handed batsman has decided to play safe before launching his much-anticipated campaign at Vadodara this weekend.
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India vs Australia
Indian cricketers celebrate their massive 99-run victory over Australia in the second ODI match at The Vidarbha Cricket Association, Jamtha Stadium in Nagpur on Wednesday, October 28, 2009.
Captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni struck a breathtaking 124 as India put up an all-round display to crush Australia by 99 runs in the second one-dayer to level the seven-match series 1-1, here on Wednesday.
Srilanka beat India in Idea Tri-Nation Series in Bangladesh on January 13 2010
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Zimbabwe vs Kenya
Charles Coventry congratulates Hamilton Masakadza who made 178 runs and the highest of zimbabwe against Kenya, Zimbabwe v Kenya, 5th ODI, Harare, October 18, 2009. Zimbabwe won the series 5-1.
Champion Trohpy
Australian team celebrates after winning the ICC Champions trophy on October 5, 2009 at the end of the ICC Champions Trophy final match against New Zealand at Supersport park cricket ground in Centurion in Sauth Africa
Champion Trohpy Final
Australia\'s Shane watson and James Hopes celebrates the victory over New Zealand during the ICC Champions Trophy\'s final match in Centurion
India became number one test team first time in the history of cricket
Indian cricketers pose for a team photo after winning on the final day of the third Test against Sri Lanka in Mumbai on Sunday, December 6, 2009. India won by an innings and 24 runs, clinching the 3-match Test series by 2-0. They also became the number one Test side for the first time in the history of cricket.
