Tim Paine says Australia will be ruthless when India visit them later this year

Australia was faced with a series of ups and downs ever since the suspension of David Warner and Steve Smith, but bounced back well and have remained unbeaten over the past few months. They beat every opponent that they faced at home this summer skipper Tim Paine believes that the Kangaroos will be ruthless when India tour their country next summer.

 Last summer, India registered their first-ever series win Down Under when they beat Australia 2-1 in a Test series in 2018-19 and now they will play them in a four-match series starting this November.

“I came into this summer expecting to win all five tests,” an elated 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,”  he added.

The five consecutive wins took Australia to the second position in the ICC Test Championship points. The current table toppers are India with 360 points from seven games.

Australia will tour India for a three-ODI series but Paine is unlikely to be a part of that series. Before that, they will also play two Tests against Bangladesh.

“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,” Paine concluded.