A cricket tour of Australia is always considered a tough one, more so for the Asian teams who find the playing conditions so different from what they normally experience and counter on their home venues. The wickets, the weather conditions, the kind of pace bowlers that Asian batsmen have to face are something alien to them, especially for those making their maiden trip.

That, perhaps, is one of the main reasons why they say that a good preparation ahead of the tour is necessary if any touring side expects top performance well down under.

The Australians' record speaks for themselves. At present, they are on the top having won the World Cup in South Africa earlier this year (the only team to have won it for the third time). And even with a second-string bowling attack, they whipped the Indians in the recent tri-series, that also involved New Zealand.

The composition of the Indian team that was selected for the tour of Australia, in the middle of the tri-series, needs to be analysed.

The Indians have already left for the Australian tour where they will play four Test matches and will participate in a tri-series, also involving Zimbabwe. It’s almost a 70-day long tour.

Australia means fast and pacy wickets, they say. While the home team will have the advantage of having Brett Lee, Glenn McGrath, Jason Gillespie and either of Bracken or Brad Williams to back them up, the Indian pace attack will be handled by an inexperienced new ball attack, that includes southpaws Zaheer Khan and Ashish Nehra. The retirement of regular strike bowler Javagal Srinath means India will be going to Australia with one of the weakest attacks ever.

Both Zaheer and Nehra are prone to injuries. The way the Australian openers Gilchrist and Hayden went after them in the recent tri-series should be an eye-opener. Speed alone will not work against the masterly Australian batsmen. Line and length is what is required of our bowlers.

Zaheer and Nehra will have Ajit Agarkar and two practically new faces in L Balaji and Irfan Pathan Jr. for company on the green Australian wickets.

Again, the wisdom of taking five medium pacers to Australia can be questioned unless the selectors were not sure about the form or physical fitness of some of them selected for the tour. Spin has always been India’s strength. Even on the pacy wickets Down Under, some of the past Indian spinners have performed adequately. The Australians are weak against the turning balls, as one witnessed during the tri-series final at Kolkata when they struggled against Harbhajan and Kartik. Erapalli Prasanna and Bishan Bedi made quick inroads into the Australian top-order batsmen during their prime days.

One feels sorry for left-arm Murali Kartik who failed to make the cut for the tour despite his creditable performance against the Austalians in the tri-series final at Kolkata. Harbhajan hardly looks the same bowler who hounded the Aussies at the same venue two years ago to carve that marvelous win in the Test.

Anil Kumble too seems to have lost much of the bite in his bowling. Anyway, he had never a good spell in Australia in the past. The Australians don’t persist with the same group of players. Current performance rather than past reputation is what is given due consideration. Their bench is their strength. Even in the absence of their three main frontline bowlers, how they performed in the tri-series is a proof of not only their bench strength but also how they are utilised. On the other hand, the Indians hardly use their bench.

Another important factor in which the Indian selectors messed up things was in the selection of wicket-keeper for the Australian tour. When he was not a selector, Syed Kirmani had been criticising the Wise Men for ignoring a specialist wicket-keeper and preferring an ad-hoc keeper.

He had all along been advocating the cause of Haryana’s Ajay Ratra, preferring him over Parthiv Patel and Deep Dasgupta. But once the former India keeper was made the chairman of selection committee, he has changed colours. Ratra is languishing while Parthiv and Dasgupta have made it to Australia.

The poor behind-the-wicket performance of these two keepers in recent games was enough for the selectors to go for Ratra. But no.

A win at Kolkata in the tri-series final (Indians had their chances but they failed to grab them) would have done their self-confidence a lot of good before they embarked on the tour of Australia.