5 reasons behind Australia's struggles in the sub-continent 

Australia have been the most consistent team in Test cricket in the 21st century. The Aussies, led by Steve Waugh and Ricky Ponting, tormented the rest of the teams and were at times invincible in the early part of the 21st century. Under Steve Smith, Australia have transitioned well after a few jitters.

However, the Indian sub-continent is the only place where the Australians have struggled. From Waugh to Clarke and now to Smith, all Aussie captains focused heavily on conquering the sub-continent but have had little success.

Why have the sub-continent nations proved so difficult for the Australians? What stops the mighty Aussies from exhibiting their prowess in this region of the world?

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#5 Lack of quality openers

Runs from the openers are crucial in the sub-continent. The best time to bat on these surfaces is when the ball is new and the pitch is fresh. As the Test progresses, the pitch deteriorates and batting becomes difficult. It's harder getting runs off the older ball.

Hence, the first two or three sessions is when runs come in plenty and the onus of scoring these runs is on the openers. Over the years, Australia has produced world-class openers, but most of them have struggled to survive the new ball in the sub-continent.

The Aussie openers are effective against the seaming ball and are habituated to play deliveries that come onto the bat quickly. However, the slow pitches in sub-continent mean the ball stops while coming onto the batsman and the bounce is also low.

Plus these openers have poor technique while facing the spinners and it is a major reason for their failure.

Except for Hayden all other cricketers have struggled in Australia

The lack of runs by the openers adds pressure on the middle order who have to deal with the spinners as well. The result is not enough runs on the board.

Except for Matthew Hayden, all Aussie openers have had their fair share of misery in the sub-continent. Hayden is the only opener who averages more than 40 in the sub-continent Tests.

Justin Langer, who tagged with Hayden to form one the best opening pairs in Test cricket, averages 34.12 in the subcontinent and has only two centuries in 31 innings. David Warner, Australia's premier batsman of the current era, has an abysmal record in this part of the world. In 22 innings he averages a mere 25.04.

#4 Failure of the fast bowlers

McGrath was effective in sub-continent but he too had to struggle

In the home conditions, the Aussie pacers get plenty of help from the pitch and the conditions. Their job is only to land the ball in the right areas and the rest is done by the fast pitch and the swing-friendly conditions.

However, such luxuries are not available in sub-continent cricket. To claim wickets, fast-bowlers have to put in serious hard work as the conditions are non conducive. To extract swing, the bowlers have to ensure the shiny and the rough sides are well-developed. Plus, to counter the lack of bounce, the seamers have to bowl a little fuller which Australian pacers are not habituated to.

The likes of Zaheer Khan and Chaminda Vaas constantly innovated and updated their skills and hence were successful in this region. However, the Australian pacers depend on the traditional bowling weapons and thus end up losing the battle.

The Australian bowlers also lack in the art of reverse swing which is a massive weapon. Glenn McGrath, Australia's most successful pace bowler, had bowling strike rate of 51.9 in Tests but in sub-continent, his strike rate jumps to 60.2. Mitchell Johnson, who wrecked batting line-ups with his pace had a strike rate of 81.1 in this region while his overall strike rate is 51.1.

Only Mitchell Starc has better statistics. His strike rate of 39.4 in this part of the world is better than his career strike rate of 49.6.

#3 Lack of practice

Lack of practice has hurt Australia

In 2016, Australia handed India a shocking defeat in Pune and went on to draw one more Test in the series. The visitors eventually lost the series 2-1 but their fight and resilience won them many praises. The defeat in Pune was India's first defeat in India since 2012 and the first by Australia after 2006.

Before arriving in India for the Test series, Smith and Co. went through a rigorous training regime in Dubai on pitches that were tailor-made to give the feel of sub-continent conditions and had hired Sridharan Sriram as their spin coach. The results of this meticulous planning were seen in the first Test as Australia thrashed India by 333 runs.

The sub continent conditions are alien to Australian cricketers and they need time to adapt to these conditions. Hence, ample training sessions and practice matches must be arranged to give the cricketers the taste of sub-continent cricket before the actual battle begins.

But unfortunately, on most occasions, the Aussies arrived without much practice and had to pay dearly for this blunder. The lack of practice has hindered Australia's chances of success in spin-friendly conditions.

#2 The flawed technique against spin

Performances like Smith's have been rare

The sub-continent cricket is mostly about the spinners who get enormous assistance in these conditions. But unfortunately for Australia, they don't have batsmen in their ranks who are effective players of spin bowling.

The Aussie batsmen have little training of negotiating a spinning delivery and often, their flawed technique brings their downfall. To handle spin bowling effectively, the batsmen must use their feet, have soft hands and play late. On the contrary, the Aussie batsmen at the crease look to play with hard hands at most times and have pre-meditated shots in their mind.

The failure to produce batsmen with solid technique against the spinners has played a huge role in Australia's pathetic performances in the sub-continent.

Steven Smith emerged as a hero in 2016 when he amassed three centuries in four Tests in India. To achieve this success he followed a useful template for batting. He made liberal use of his feet and wasn't affected when he was occasionally beaten by the odd delivery.

Also, Hayden became successful when he added the sweep shot to his armoury. His skills of sweeping the ball which was pitched outside the off stump was effective in neutralising the spinners.

But instances of such heroic batting are rare and hence Australia have.

#1 Absence of a spin-duo

Nathan Lyon will need assistance from the other end

In 2012, England won a Test series in India after 28 years. That series is the only instance of India losing a series at home in this decade. The architects of that series win were Graeme Swann and Monty Panesar who took 20 and 17 wickets respectively.

In Australia's dramatic win in Pune in 2016, the duo of Steve O'Keefe and Nathon Lyon shared 17 wickets among themselves out of the 20 wickets in both the innings.

A capable spin bowling duo is the cheat-code for achieving success in sub-continent. Australia had the greatest leg-spinner the world has ever seen in their team in the form of Shane Warne but he seldom received any support from the other end.

In sub-continent cricket, having two spinners makes the task difficult for the batsmen. Having only one quality spinner puts little pressure on the batting team as they always have the breathing space.

In 2003/4, Australia whitewashed Sri Lanka in the three Test series. Shane Warne, with 26 wickets, was the chief destroyer in the series and interestingly his spin accomplice, Stuart MacGill claimed only five wickets. However, during that series, Warne was supported by Jason Gillespie (10 wickets) and Michael Kasprowicz (12 wickets).