VVS Laxman: India can do well in Australia if they don't get overawed by opposition

VVS Laxman

Indian batting great VVS Laxman has said that the Indian team have a good chance of doing well in Australia, provided they put in the hard yards 10 days before the first Test in Brisbane.

The 40-year-old, who scored 6 against the Australians, 4 of them away from home, said that the couple of warm-up matches prior to the start of the Test series will be important for the visitors to understand and get used to the conditions.

“India have a very good chance. They have the potential and the talent. In my opinion, the first 10 days will be crucial; how well they negotiate the bouncy pitches will be crucial. I think India should have got two four-day games, instead of two two-day games. But they don’t have a choice and will have to make do with what they have to acclimatise to the conditions,” he Hyderabadi said while speaking at the Hindustan Times Leadership Summit.

Dhawan and Vijay have a key role to play

Laxman added that the key to success in Australia is to pick the length early and emphasised the role of the openers in Australian conditions.

“Picking up the length and adjusting to the variations in length early would be crucial.It’s important to get used to the bounce of the Kookaburra balls, which have thick seam and can trouble you initially. The key is how well you play out the new ball, especially the first 15 overs and how you value your shots,” he said.

India haven’t won an overseas Test series since beating the West Indies 1-0 in June 2011 and Laxman feels that the team shouldn’t think about past Test results and also expected current batting mainstays Cheteshwar Pujara and Virat Kohli to perform much better than they did in England.

“My philosophy is to not carry the mental scars of the previous series. The team should look at the success of the one-day series which followed the 1-3 Test loss. They should look at the positives of how well they batted and bowled to win the first Test at Lord’s. Those are the positives the team should take to Australia,” the former middle-order batsman said.

“Yes, Pujara had issues with deliveries coming in while Kohli had problems with the away-going balls. No doubt, they had a terrible series in England, but we should remember they are exceptional players and they will be looking forward to having a bigger series (in Australia). The hallmark of these players is to keep improving and that’s what they will do,” he added.

India have played Johnson well in the past

Coming in support of Indian batsman with respect to facing up to Australia’s tearaway quick Mitchell Johnson, Laxman said that India’s batsman have played him well in the past and advised the young team to not get intimidated by their opponents.

“Everyone here has this apprehension that Johnson will be more than a handful for India.But, I’ll say here that we’ve always played Johnson well. Having said that, the boys shouldn’t be overawed by the opposition. I usually don’t predict the outcome. But if India play to potential they should do well,” he said.