Last time Australia visited India, back in 2017, Steve Smith was the visiting skipper, and almost led his side to a memorable series win over India. But after winning the first Test in Pune, the visitors let the lead slip, losing both the Tests in Bengaluru and Dharamshala to hand the hosts a 2-1 series win, missing the opportunity to win a rare series. 

Six years later, the right-hander returns to the country, albeit just as a batter. Ahead of the first Test in Nagpur, Smith insisted that it would be huge if they can ‘topple’ the Indian mountain. Not just that, the right-hander also insisted that this win will be way bigger than any Ashes series win. 

“It's a difficult place to win a Test match, let alone a series. If we are able to topple that mountain, that would be huge. I think, if we can win in India, that would be bigger than an Ashes series,” Smith said in a video tweeted out by cricket.com.au.

David Warner too returns to India, a country where he doesn’t have the best of records. An average of 24.25 are his worst numbers in a country, and that comes against India. But this time around, the southpaw reckoned that he is looking forward to the contest, calling it a ‘hard graft’. 

And the left-hander also insisted that beating India in India is always going to be the toughest challenge for the visitors. 

“I am really looking forward to that tour. It is always a hard graft. The one thing I am really looking forward to about that is applying myself against the best spinners in the world. Being a part of that last Ashes was fantastic but beating India in India, that is the toughest challenge for us,” he said.