India vs Australia 2017: IPL, T20 World Cup experience will hold us in good stead, reckons James Faulkner

Early this year, Steve Smith-led side had reached Pune for the first of the four-match Test series against Virat Kohli's men. Despite the home team suffering their first defeat on home soil after conquering New Zealand, England and then Bangladesh – scripting a perfect whitewash against all, India bounced back with a 2-1 series win

PTI

New Delhi: Team Australia is back to India, but this time for a limited over series. And all-rounder James Faulkner reckons that the team member's experience whilst playing in the Indian Premier League seasons and during the ICC World T20 in 2016 would help the Australians during the limited-over series that kicks starts next week in Chennai.

Early this year, Steve Smith-led side had reached Pune for the first of the four-match Test series against Virat Kohli's men. Despite the home team suffering their first defeat on home soil after conquering New Zealand, England and then Bangladesh – scripting a perfect whitewash against all, India bounced back to pull back a draw and then win the decider at Dharamsala to win the Border-Gavaskar series 2-1.

That was back in early March. Almost seven months later, the team have now arrived for a limited over series – five ODIs and three T20Is, with the first 50-over game scheduled on September 17 at M A Chidambaram stadium in Chennai.

Can Australia produce a wonder against the formidable Indians? Faulkner feels that most of the members of the squad have played in the IPL and in the T20 World Cup in India and so the experince picked up from there will help the team in the limited-over series.

"Most of the boys have played here in the IPL and T20 World Cup. So those experiences will help us," Faulker said after the team's training session in Chennai.

"They (India) have played a lot of one-day cricket in the recent past. They are in really good nick right now. It is going to be a test."

Talking about the all-rounder, Faulkner himself will make a return back to the squad after missing out on Australia's ICC Champions Trophy campaign in England. It was indeed tough for the 27-year-old as described by him, but he is happy to be back, back to don the yellow jersey.

"Obviously if you miss out anytime on selection it is tough. I was four months away from the game. I had a bit of pre-season which has been nice, to get strong and fitter," Faulkner said.

"I have been battling to be honest, probably the last 18 months. It is good to be back with my teammates and hit the gym hard. I'm happy now," he said.

"It was pretty tough. I think you ask any player when he gets left out it is not great fun. At the end of the day it up to you to be back. I am excited to back in the group. I don't really want to talk about the past. It is a good opportunity against a tough opposition in their own country," he said.

"I didn't get too much feedback (from the selectors) to be honest. The pace had dropped down a little bit maybe. I went back and reflected and wanted to get back into the team. I put that aside and worked as hard I could," he added.

Talking about the team, their excitement in playing against the in-form Indian team and the conditions in Chennai, Faulkner said, "We are obviously looking forward to playing a warm-up game before the series starts. The conditions here in Chennai are tough, it is hot and sweating too much. The boys are eager to get out there and play some good cricket, it is going to be a good series. The last time we were here we had some good, tough cricket, so we are all excited.

"All the boys love playing here, the fans are so passionate about cricket. It has always been a good rivalry between India and Australia. I am looking forward to playing in India," he added.

Asked about the so-called 'X-factor', the Australian said, "I suppose it is the variation and depth with both the bat and ball. I don't know about the X-factor regarding myself. There are players with X-factors in both the teams and that is international cricket.

"My aim is to do as well as I can and play my part in these conditions which are different from back in Australia."

"We have had two training sessions to get accustomed to the conditions. I am looking forward to the getting out there in the heat and bowling some variations and getting through the game with a solid performance," he signed off.