India will find Australia a different proposition next year, says skipper Tim Paine

Australia was simply ruthless in their home series sweeps against Pakistan and New Zealand and will impose bigger challengers when India tour next year, captain Tim Paine said on Monday. Australia registered a 3-0 series triumph over the Black Caps with a 279-run victory at the Sydney Cricket Ground, and that was also their fifth win out of five matches this summer.

“I came into this summer expecting to win all five tests,” Paine told reporters.

“I think now we’ve got a team together that is really consistent, we’ve got a number of match-winners with both bat and ball and our lesser players have improved a hell of a lot over the last 12 months.

“We’ve probably become more ruthless which was something we wanted to be … We’ve got great quality throughout our side and it’s a very exciting team to be part of.”

India last visited Australia in the 2018-19 season and earned its first series triumph on Australia soil in absence of Steve Smith and David Warner.

“(But) I think there were probably periods in the test series against India we should have capitalized on, but through wanting it too much, or trying too hard, or putting too much pressure on ourselves, we let it slip,” Paine said. “We’re certainly a different side than what they played against last year,” Paine added.

“There’s (also) test championship points at stake and I think both India and Australia are eyeing off that final so every point is going to be critical.

“If we can continue our upward trend, you’re potentially talking about the top two teams in the world so it’s going to be an awesome series.”

The win over New Zealand brought Australia closer to India on the World Test Championship table. India and Australia are always known as a big cricket rivalry, with Smith and Virat being the best batsman in the world respectively.