"Huge key is to try and get a lot of overs into Bumrah and Ashwin" - Tim Paine
Australia skipper Tim Paine has revealed one of his side's main goals will be to make Team India's best bowlers - Jasprit Bumrah and Ravichandran Ashwin - bowl as many overs as possible.
The 36-year-old believes the more the Aussies are able to wear down Bumrah and Ashwin, the higher will be their chances of scoring against other inexperienced Indian bowlers.
Team India will have to make a forced change in the bowling department as fast bowler Umesh Yadav has been ruled out of the remainder of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. The pacer had pulled his calf muscle during the Boxing Day Test.
This means that either of Shardul Thakur, Navdeep Saini, or T Natarajan are set to make their Test debut at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG).
While the visitors' bowling attack will look even more inexperienced than what it was in the second Test, Tim Paine explained in the pre-match video conference why the Australian batsmen should not take any Indian bowler for granted.
"We have seen them do well, the guys who have come in, we have played against them in Australia A games and we know the skills that they have got. So we certainly can't take any of them lightly," Tim Paine said.
"But obviously, a huge key is to try and get a lot of overs into Bumrah and Ashwin. If we can do that, then obviously we are scoring more runs and we are making the younger guys bowl a bit more as well," Tim Paine further added.
"Indian batters have got some real depth around their squad now" - Tim Paine
In the absence of their best batsman Virat Kohli, there were doubts whether the Indian batting could step up in the Boxing Day Test. However, led by a brilliant hundred from stand-in skipper Ajinkya Rahane, the visitors were able to post a total in excess of 300.
Players like Shubman Gill and Ravindra Jadeja also chipped in with crucial runs.
Thus, Tim Paine believes Team India have got great depth in their batting and feels the visitors have enough firepower to make up for Kohli's absence.
"Ideally, we want them bowling a lot of overs, which means we are scoring a lot of runs. But what we have seen again with the Indian batters is that they have got some real depth around their squad now. The guys like Gill who have come in, are very very good players and dangerous players, " Tim Paine asserted.
With Rohit Sharma likely to be back in Team India's playing XI for the third Test, the Indian batting will only get stronger.
The Aussies, on the other hand, will be bolstered by the presence of David Warner at the top of the order.
As far as the bowling department is concerned, it will be interesting to see who will receieve his maiden Test cap for India.
With each of Thakur, Saini and Natarajan bringing different attributes to the table, the Indian team management surely has a tough decision to make.