Australia skipper Steve Smith has dismissed suggestions that his team is in danger of suffering another humiliating whitewash in the subcontinent in the upcoming four-match series against India.

Former Indian skipper Sourav Ganguly and off-spinner Harbhajan Singh have both predicted a clean sweep for Virat Kohli’s men in the Border-Gavaskar series. Australia have endured a horrid time in the sub-continent in the last one decade or so. Since the Test against Bangladesh in 2006 when Jason Gillespie’s double century led them to a huge win, the team from Down Under has won just one Test. Since then, they have lost 13 of the 17 Tests they’ve played in Asia – including the 3-0 whitewash in Sri Lanka last year.

However, Smith has quashed all the predictions and insisted that his squad has the ability to compete against India.But at the same time, he admitted that playing against the world number one team in their own backyard is going to be tough.

Speaking ahead of the first Test, Smith said:“I don’t believe that’s the case. I’m confident in the squad we’ve got here to compete against India.”

“India have played some very good cricket, off late, particularly at home, so we’re under no illusions there, it’s going to be tough. But we’ve got the squad here that can compete in these conditions,” he added.

He further said that his team was looking forward to shedding the poor travellers’ tag.

“Obviously some of the away performances of late haven’t been up to standard from my point of view and the Australian cricket team’s point of view,” he said.

“We want to change the way we play away from home. We want to be more adaptable to conditions and show some fight. For me, it’s starting things fresh. We have come here with a positive mindset. The more we think about the last time we came here or Sri Lanka, we start to lose,” he added.

The first Test will begin on Thursday (February 23) in Pune. After that, the teams will move to Bangalore, Ranchi and Dharamsala for the remaining matches.