Ahead of his side's three-match ODI series against Australia, Indian skipper Virat Kohli has said that this time's limited-overs fixtures between the two teams is going to be different in terms of their consistent batsmen challenging the Men in Blue's bowling attack.
The opening ODI between India and Australia will be played at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Tuesday.
Speaking on the eve of the clash, Kohli said that the competition has always been good while playing against Australia, but his side is quite optimistic about the series especially after their last year's historic victory.
"India vs Australia is now not a new thing that we are going to experience. The teams know each other so well. We played each other so much and the competition has always been really good. The last one year has given us a lot more confidence and I think the series is going to be really different this time around in terms of their batsmen challenging our bowlers," he said in a press conference.
In January 2019, the Virat Kohli-led side created history by clinching India's first-ever three-match ODI series win against Australia Down Under.
The 31-year-old said that Australia's batting line-up has been consistent since the last couple of months and that it will definitely be a challenge for the Indian bowlers to break through the same.
"Last time, their players were not that experienced. Marnus came in, but he played only one game. The way he has shaped up in the last summer is amazing. So much consistency is always good to watch at the international level and the hunger and the passion one can see clearly in him.Yes, it will be a challenge for us to break through that batting order, but it is a challenge we should look forward to. We are the top two sides in the table as well in the World Test Championship. So the series between the two sides is going to be right up there with any of the best series in the past five-six years," he added.
Meanwhile, Kohli also declared that his side is absolutely ready to play anyone and anywhere in the world with the pink ball following their successful first-ever day-night Test against Bangladesh in November 2019.
"We have the skill as a team now to compete against anyone in the world anywhere, in any format of the game whether it is white ball, red ball, pink ball.We played the day and night Test here (India), we are happy with how it went. It has become a very exciting feature of any Test series, we are open to playing day and night tests. We are ready for the challenge," he stated.
The Kohli-led Indian side became the ninth country in the world to play Day-Night Test when they played the second match against Bangladesh under-lights with a pink ball at Eden Gardens in Kolkata. The hosts went on to win that match by an innings and 46 runs inside three days.
India are now heading into the Australia series on the back of 2-0 T20I series win against Sri Lanka.
