AUS vs IND | Need to work hard to win away from home, insists Cheteshwar Pujara

Cheteshwar Pujara was one of India's key performers on their last tour of Australia in 2018-19 when they won their first Test series on Australian soil. The right-handed batsman finished as the series' highest scorer, accumulating 521 runs from four Tests at 74.42 with three centuries and a fifty. However, Steve Smith and David Warner didn't play in that series due to their ball-tampering bans and with their inclusion in the side, the Australian team is undoubtedly going to be much stronger than last time. 

Pujara insisted that the Indian team will have to work hard to win the matches against a ‘stronger’ Australian side, with or without Virat Kohli. 

"It (Australian batting line-up) will be a little stronger than what it was in 2018-19 but then victories don't come easy. If you want to win away from home, you need to work hard," India's dependable No.3 told PTI. 

Jasprit Bumrah, Ishant Sharma, and Mohammed Shami spearheaded the Indian bowling lineup on the 2018-19 tour of Australia and performed brilliantly to take India to a series win. Pujara believes that India's fast bowling trio will have the advantage of having already played down under. 

"No doubt Smith, Warner and Marnus Labuschagne are great players. But the good part about our current crop of bowlers is that most of them play in the same series and our bowling unit will also not be very different to what it was in 2018-19."

He added that for India's fast bowlers can repeat their performance of last time then India will have every chance of winning the series. The Tests series is scheduled to start on December 17.

"They know how to be successful in Australia as they have enjoyed success there in the past. They have their game-plans in place and if we can execute them well, they are capable of getting Smith, Warner, and Labuschagne out quickly. If we can do what we have done in the past, I am sure we have every chance of winning the series again," he added.