'Kryptonite' exposes painful Australian failings over last two decades
Comments from both Pat Cummins and Steve Smith that a series win in India would be bigger than winning the Ashes in England have drawn a sharp response from former England captain Mike Atherton.
"How would they know," he asked in his column for The Times.
Atherton pointed out that Australia hasn't won a series in England since 2001, while the 2004 side remains the last to win in India.
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"No active Australian player knows what it is like to win in England," Atherton wrote.
"Mind you, they don't know what it is like to win in India either, where they have fared even worse.
"Australian batsmen have often given the impression of being homesick travellers, happiest against Kookaburra balls on flat pitches, and far less certain when conditions offer swing, seam or spin.
"A moving ball is like kryptonite to Australian batsmen, reared on hard pitches where they can play early and hit through the line of the ball with freedom."
The problem with the moving ball is one the Australian batters will face in the second Test, where the visitors will need to end a 36-year streak to level the Border-Gavaskar Trophy at 1-1.
Usman Khawaja leaves the field after being dismissed in the first Test. Getty
India hasn't lost at the Arun Jaitley Stadium since 1987, when a West Indian team full of all-time greats chased down a fourth innings target of 276, with Viv Richards making an unbeaten century.
In Australia's last Test on this ground, in 2013, both Ravindra Jadeja and Ravi Ashwin picked up seven wickets for the match as India eased to a six wicket win, the state of the pitch perhaps summed up by the fact Australia's opening bowlers in the second innings were Nathan Lyon and Glenn Maxwell.
Australia's batters mustered just 177 and 91 a week ago in Nagpur. They'll need to make significantly more in Delhi if they're to have any chance of forcing Mike Atherton to eat his words.
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