India's pace spearhead Zaheer Khan says the bowling unit will depend on swing against the struggling Australian batting that has proved vulnerable to the moving ball in recent times.
Zaheer said that it was encouraging for Indian bowlers to see that the Australia's batting top-order has been asked to attend a batting camp in Melbourne to fine tune their skills ahead of the Boxing Day Test.
"It is definitely encouraging as a bowling unit, our strength has always been the swing. That will be the key and that's what we're going to rely on here as well. Even though the wickets here offer a lot of bounce, we will still rely on swing. Hopefully we'll be able to extract some swing in the matches to come," said the 33-year-old Zaheer at the Manuka Oval.
"As a bowler it is all about bowling into the right areas. If a bowler is capable of hitting the right length and is able to get the ball moving, then you can trouble any batsman in the world," he said.
Zaheer has not played international cricket since suffering a hamstring tear during the first Test against England at Lord's in July. Subsequently he underwent ankle surgery in London and his selection for the Australian series was conditional. He tested his ankle in a first-class match in the Ranji Trophy before boarding the flight to Australia.
The left-arm pacer said he had lot of time to prepare for the Australia series.
"I've definitely had a lot of time to prepare for this series. I have put in a lot of hardwork since the surgery and have done everything possible to get back to shape. I am very happy with the way things are going personally for me. Happy with to get back my rhythm in the nets and a bit of match practice will help me. It was a long flight for us so it is important we get into rhythm. I got to see a bit of bowling, I am happy with the way the whole approach has been, and I'm looking forward to playing the next one myself," he said.
Zaheer also said that Ishant Sharma decision to leave midway through his sixth over was a precautionary measure.
"It is very good to see someone bowling like that, I've been mentioning back in India it is good to see him bowl 140kph plus, which is really important. I'm sure the wickets here are going to suit his style of bowling because the wickets are going to provide that extra bit of bounce. It is still early days for him, and the more he plays the more he is going to learn, so it is all about exposure at this level, and I'm sure with time he'll learn more things," he said.
