There was a time when the Australians viewed a tour to India as one of the toughest, but that has changed. They now toe India every year end note of the players are also part of the Indian Premier League. The Australians now
embrace the Indian cricket experience unreservedly and the Indian shores no longer hold any demons for them.

The Australians will be looking forward to their seven One-day games in India with a great deal of optimism, Their 6-1 win against England followed by the successful defense of their title in the Champions Trophy means that they are back to their winning ways.

Ricky Ponting and his team have realized that they need not emulate the unbridled aggression of Adam Gilchrist or Matthew Hayden to be successful. They have learnt that they can be successful by playing a different but equal and effective brand of cricket

A lot of positives have emerged over the last few months for this team. Nathan hilarity has been in woodworm, which is an encouraging sign, as spin was an area of major concern for Australia. Shane Watson's backtrack centuries have proved that he has the technique and range of strokes required to open in the ODIs.

It is hard to predict the out- come of the series, because India, too, have been doing very well in One-day cricket over the last year. It's going to be a really riveting, hard-fought contest. The score line will read 4-3, but I am not ready to predict in whose favors!