Tim Paine, Australian skipper feels the hosts still cannot take their foot off the pedal going into the Boxing Day Test on Saturday.
India are without the services of talismanic skipper Virat Kohli and faces a problem with an unstable batting order after the Adelaide debacle where they registered lowest ever Test score of 36.
Tim Paine: India Are An Extremely Talented Test Match Side
India will also be without pacer Mohammad Shami as the bowler fractured his arm in the first Test against Australia. Mohammed Shami was hit on the arm by a bouncer bowled by Pat Cummins while batting in the second innings.
“We can’t pay attention to mental scars people are talking about. We know India is a proud cricket country, they’re an extremely talented Test match side with lots of dangerous players,” said Paine in a virtual press conference on Friday.
“So the moment we take our foot off the pedal, and think we’re going all right, performances can slip,” he added.
Australia will in all probability field an unchanged XI in Boxing Day Test as David Warner remains unavailable for not recovering from a groin injury and pacer Sean Abbott and opener Will Pucovski also not in contention.
Tim Paine: Some Of The Players Coming Into Side Are Dangerous Players Who Will Play Positively
Tim Paine said India have plenty of “dangerous” players in bench who can chip in with useful contributions when required and Australia currently No. 1 Test team must be prepared for another five-day battle with the No. 3 Test team. He says Australia are wary of players like KL Rahul and Rishabh Pant who can play positive aggressive cricket.
“We know that some of the players they’re talking about coming into their side, like a KL Rahul or Rishabh Pant, are dangerous players who like to take the game on and will play positively,” said Tim Paine.
“If we give players like that an inch they will take a mile, so we need to be bang on the mark tomorrow as we were in Adelaide and be prepared to turn up for another five-day battle,” he added.
Both India and Australia are set to take on each other in the Boxing Day Test, beginning Saturday. India will bring in 5 changes handing over debuts to Shubman Gill and Mohammed Siraj or Navdeep Saini while KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant and Ravindra Jadeja will come back into Test fold after a while.