Batting legend Sachin Tendulkar took note of Australia's poor scores in the ongoing Test series at home against India and said the hosts don't inspire too much confidence with their unsettled looking top six. 

The Aussies haven't yet managed to collectively cross the 200-run mark after two Tests in Adelaide and Melbourne. And though it would be unfair to take the credit away from Indian bowlers for that, there are certainly deeper issues to be resolved for the home team with regards to their batting line-up. 

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"When I look at this Australian batting line-up and look at some of the earlier line-ups, I feel earlier line-ups were settled ones. Those players batted with a different kind of intent but this team doesn't look very settled," Tendulkar told PTI. 

"In this current Australian team, there are players who are not in good form and are unsure about their spots. In earlier teams, those batsmen batted in their slots as there was a lot of surety in their batting line-up," he added. 

It isn't that Australia's struggles with the bat are a thing of this series only, but those problems have been highlighted further by some outstanding bowling from the Indians and the rare lean patch endured by Steve Smith, especially while facing off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin. 

Tendulkar beautifully dissected why the mighty batsman has found troubles countering an in-form Ashwin. 

"In the first Test, Smith got out to an arm ball or you can call it a straighter which Ashwin releases differently. An off-spinner bowls a straighter which skids off the surface when fingers are not on top of the ball," he said. 

"In the second Test, it was not a slider but fingers were on top of the ball which produced bounce and turn."

"Steve Smith played a normal flick to a regulation off-break that any batsman does by instinct and fielder was brilliantly placed there."

"It was a well-planned ball and wicket by Ashwin. Both are class players, so someone is going to have a better day and so far, Ashwin has come out winner in first two Tests."

Tendulkar heaped praise on India's stand-in captain Ajinkya Rahane who led the side brilliantly in the series-levelling victory in the Boxing Day Test, including scoring a game-defining ton in the first innings. 

"I felt this was a brilliant performance by our team, the manner in which our team was able to play and the way Ajinkya led the team. Also if you look at senior cricketers and their contribution, it has been good," said Tendulkar who, however, feels it's not fair on Rahane to be compared with regular skipper Virat Kohli and vice versa. 

"People shouldn't get into comparisons with Virat. Ajinkya has different personality. His intent was aggressive. I would like to remind everyone that they are both Indians and they both play for India, so no individuals comes above India. Team and country is above everything else."

Tendulkar felt Rahane's memorable knock of 112 in the first half was a perfect mix of caution and aggression. 

"I thought Ajinkya batted brilliantly. He was calm, relaxed and composed. He had aggressive intent but aggression was rightly balanced by calmness and surety," he said. 

"So he did not miss opportunities when a boundary ball was there. And when one had to be patient, he was patient. The intent was very good."

In absence of Ishant Sharma, pacer Jasprit Bumrah played the ideal leader of the attack and delivered spells of 4/56 and 2/54. 

"In the fast bowling department, Bumrah as the leader of the attack has taken more responsibility and whenever the chips are down, he has pushed himself harder. That's the sign of a champion bowler," Tendulkar said. 

The win also had contributions from two talented debutants in Shubman Gill and Mohammed Siraj. The former batted nicely for his scores of 45 and 35* at the top, while the latter bagged five wickets in the Test after some promising fast bowling. 

"Shubman looked confident and comfortable. He played some good shots off short pitched stuff that Australians bowled. Someone upfront who goes out and scores 45 and 35 so, it is surely a good start," Tendulkar said. 

"Let's also not forget how Siraj has also bowled. It did not appear to me that he was playing his first Test match."

"The way he bowled his first over and then built it up gradually but never did it look that he was playing his first match. The plans were well thought out. He executed it well. Both debutants were comfortable in execution of their plans."

According to Tendulkar, one major reason behind India's win was the presence of multi-dimensional cricketers in the middle and lower-order, allowing the team to have depth in either department. 

"Jadeja has batted well and it worked. We keep talking about five bowlers, but having Rishabh Pant at No. 6, Jadeja at No. 7 and Ashwin as No 8 with four hundreds also helps."

"That partnership between Jadeja and Ajinkya was crucial. They added invaluable runs and that put them under pressure. Also crucial were runs that Pant was able to score," Tendulkar added.