India and Australia’s rivalry is a bit like Ashes, admits Tim Paine

Historically, Australia and England are one of cricket’s oldest rivals. Their rivalry dates back to 1882 when the English newspaper coined the term ‘Ashes.’ Over a century later, Australia’s Test skipper Tim Paine admitted that India’s rivalry with Australia is on the same level as against England. He also added that the contest between the two high-quality teams as ‘quality cricket.’ 

“India and Australia as a rivalry, it's a series a bit like the Ashes that we all look forward to. This is a different team, no doubt their team will be slightly different as well, but it's two high quality teams, a really anticipated series purely because of the quality of cricket, not for what's happened before,” he said, reported Cricbuzz. 

In the past, the Australian skipper has been highly vocal about the strong Indian team, which defeated them at home earlier last year. However, Paine was stoked with the return of veterans David Warner and Steve Smith. He also added that with the emergence of the youngster Marnus Labuschagne, the contest this time around will be tough for the visiting Indian side. 

"I think you put in 15,000 Test runs with two guys alone, Steve Smith and David Warner, Marnus Labuschagne's come on in leaps and bounds and he's now a top three or four batsman in the world himself. You put that amount of runs into a cricket side, last time we didn't have,” he added.  

However, Paine admitted that the Indian bowling line-up was excellent last time around, with the Australian batting, not that well-prepared. This time, in contrast, he believes that they are well-versed and prepared to tackle Jasprit Bumrah and co in familiar conditions. 

 ... we know how good India's bowling line-up is and last time we just weren't quite good enough if we're totally honest against that attack, whereas this time I think we'll be a different kettle of fish. We've got three of the best batsmen in the world in our top six," he concluded.