Australia's head coach Justin Langer said he does "empathise" with the touring Indian side as they grapple with the absence of their multiple first-choice picks, but is equally "glad" if they're feeling stressed at this point of the Test series.
Having won the first Test in Adelaide by eight wickets, Langer said the Aussies will be determined to not let the pressure decrease on the deflated Indians who, having lost Ishant Sharma and Mohammad Shami, their experienced quicks, to injuries, will also have to contend with the absence of their skipper Virat Kohli due to paternity leave.
Langer said he wouldn't at all want to be in the spot that opposition head coach Ravi Shastri finds himself in.
"None of my business. I have had enough with stresses ....I empathise with the opposition and I know what it feels like. If India are feeling any stress, I am glad they are and not us over the Christmas weekend," Langer said during a virtual media conference, as quoted by PTI.
With Shami gone, Ishant not there, Kohli missing and Rohit Sharma not available till the third Test, stand-in Ajinkya Rahane and his boys have a big task on their hands.
"Of course, whatever sport you play, if you take out two of your stars, Virat Kohli is an all-time great player I think and Shami is a real glue for the team because he is so miserly and skilful. It surely gives us some advantage," Langer said.
"We need to start strongly on the first day and build pressure on Rahane as he is the new captain of India for this series. So the processes don't change. Whenever you take out best players of any cricket team, it weakens them and that's the reality," he added.
Langer is hoping Australia's own first-choice opening batsman David Warner will be available from the New Year's Test after being ruled out of the first two games due to a groin strain.
"I am very hopeful. ....as I said for the last three weeks or so, he will be doing everything possible to get back out onto the ground, so fingers crossed," he said.
"He is starting (to get) a bit of trouble running at full speed, when he gets that back and feels confident with it, of course he will come back into our team, so we will just monitor him regularly and fingers crossed that he will be back."
With every Australian wicketkeeper batsman compared and judged, often unfairly, by the standards which the great Adam Gilchrist set, Langer was delighted at how skipper Tim Paine held his own with the bat in the last Test.
Paine's unbeaten half-century was crucial to Australia not allowing the Indian team to take a more intimidating first-innings lead and keep themselves in the game.
"You think about Adam Gilchrist, I guess, who transformed the game in a sense, and that is why Adam Gilchrist is an all-time great player because he transformed the game. I have got enormous faith in Tim Paine," Langer said.
"...whether it's his wicket-keeping, his captaincy, his batting, I have said publicly and privately for almost the last year, he is our most important player, because he is a lead wicket-keeper, his leadership on and off the field is incredible."
"....we saw he can play, how well he batted in first innings under pressure in Adelaide, probably changed the game actually with the run-out of Virat Kohli, so he is a great player, great leader and I literally love having him in our team," he added.
