Pace bowling great Glenn McGrath says India has their best chance to claim the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in the test cricket series starting next week.
During his playing days, McGrath was known for making bold predictions in Australia's favour, famously saying his side would win the 2005 Ashes series5-0, a comment that came back to haunt him when England regained the urn 2-1.
But there was little jingoism about McGrath's thoughts on the four-test series which begins in Bangalore on Thursday.
"I feel this is India's best chance to get back the Border-Gavaskar Trophy because, while I still back my team, there are a few youngsters who will be playing in India for the first time," McGrath wrote in the Times of India newspaper.
"The four key players for Australia will be captain Ricky Ponting, Michael Clarke, Matthew Hayden and Brett Lee.
"The latter will have to lead the pace attack, and while he is an experienced campaigner, he is yet to play a single test in India."
Ruefully noting Australia's dramatic loss to India in the second test in Kolkata in 2001, the match that ended a record-breaking 16-match winning streak, McGrath said India have always had the happy knack of lifting for meetings with the world champions.
"It's important to stress that while Australia have undisputably been the world champions for a decade now, the one team that has beaten Australia the most is India," he wrote.
"They lost the last test series, but came back superbly in Perth to pull one back.
"The eventual scoreline read 2-1 in Australia's favour, but it was clear that the pendulum had swung in India's favour after the Sydney test."
