After outplaying an inexperienced West Indies side in the Test, ODI, and Twenty20 International series, Team India under the leadership of Virat Kohli has immense confidence before departing for Australia on Friday to gear up for the marquee four-month-long tour where they will play three T20Is, four Tests and three ODIs, beginning with the first T20I on November 21 at the Gabba in Brisbane.

The four-match Test series gets underway on December 6 with the first Test at Adelaide. India last toured Australia in 2016 when they lost the five-match ODI series 1-4 but won the three-match T20I series 3-0. In the last edition of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in 2014-15, India suffered a 0-2 defeat in the four-match Test series, but one has to agree that the scoreline didn’t justify the effort put in by the Indian team.

ALSO READ: Aaron Finch Seeks Some Inspiration From The Indian Team

Things are different now in Down Under as since the ball-tampering incident that led to the suspension of Steve Smith, David Warner, and Cameron Bancroft, Australian cricket has only seen the downfall. However, former Australia off-spinner Ashley Mallett reckons the hosts still have a weapon in off-spinner Nathan Lyon, who claimed 12 wickets in the opening Test of the 2014-15 series in Adelaide, where India lost by 48 runs.

On Wednesday, during a chat with Mid-DAY, Mallet said, “Look, it’s not that Lyon will bowl to an Indian line-up that includes VVS Laxman and Sachin Tendulkar. Those batsmen used their feet and thus changed the length. No one tries to change the length – not just India, all the teams’ batsmen. If Lyon spins it on a good length, he will pose problems. He’s a real class bowler now.”

Mallett, who was part of Ian Chappell’s 1972 team that toured England, advised Lyon to keep things simple during the Test series. He said Nathan can just bowl the way he does — hit the right spot and get wickets. He will be successful because batsmen don’t use their feet well.