"Series win in India like an away Ashes victory, but it's more rare": Australian skipper ahead of first Test

Bengaluru (Karnataka) [India], February 6 (ANI): Australian skipper Pat Cummins on Monday compared a Test series win in India to an Ashes series win against England away from home.
In a video posted by cricket.com.au, many notable Australian cricket stars like David Warner, Mitchell Starc, Steve Smith, Pat Cummins, Nathan Lyon, Josh Hazlewood talked about what a series win against India at their home means to them. The first Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy will start from February 9 in Nagpur. Australia have struggled to win consistently against India in subcontinent conditions and had last won a series in India back in 2004.
"Winning a series against India in India is like an away Ashes series win, but it is more rare," said skipper Cummins in the video. Cummins has eight wickets in two matches in India.
Star Australia batter Steve Smith acknowledged that winning a Test match is difficult in India, let alone a series.
"If we are able to topple that mountain, that would be huge. If we win in India, it will be bigger than the Ashes series win," added Smith.
Steve Smith has an exceptional record in India. In six matches and 12 innings, he has scored 660 runs at an average of 60.00. Three centuries and a fifty have come out of his bat, with best score of 178*.
David Warner also said that he is looking forward to "applying himself against the best spinners in the world."
"Being a part of the last Ashes series was fantastic. But going to India and beating them is the toughest challenge in Test cricket for us," added the opener.
Warner will be looking forward to making his record against India in subcontinent conditions better. In eight Tests and 16 innings, he has scored only 388 runs at an average of 24.25. Only three fifties have come out of his bat, with the best score of 71.
Pace spearhead Mitchell Starc said that winning the series in India would be special for the side. The 33-year-old has seven scalps in India in four matches.
"It has always been a bit of a crown jewel for the Australian touring teams. It is one of the, if not the hardest places to play away, with such foreign conditions and how strong the Indian team is at the moment," added Starc.
Hazlewood also said that the last time Australia were in India, they did win a Test match and had chances to win the series, but they "could not grab them.". Notably, the pacer has nine wickets in India in four matches.
Australia's last tour of India was in 2017. India won that series 2-1.
Spin veteran Nathan Lyon acknowledged that a series win in India is going to take a lot of hard work.
"I hope I can play a massive part in it," added Lyon, who has 34 wickets in India in seven matches.
India are the current holders of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy after winning the series in Australia in 2020-21.
The series will consist of four Test matches. The series is a big one for both teams as they look to nail down a spot in the World Test Championship (WTC) final.
Australia squad: Pat Cummins (c), Ashton Agar, Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Cameron Green, Peter Handscomb, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Lance Morris, Todd Murphy, Matthew Renshaw, Steve Smith (vc), Mitchell Starc, Mitchell Swepson, David Warner
India squad: (for the first two Tests) Rohit Sharma (c), KL Rahul (vc), Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KS Bharat, Ishan Kishan, Ravichandran Ashwin, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj, Umesh Yadav, Jaydev Unadkat, Suryakumar Yadav. (ANI)