Gilchrist's formula for success in India

Test great Adam Gilchrist, the man who guided Australia to their drought-breaking series victory in India more than a decade ago, says a positive attitude will be the current side's most important asset when they head to the subcontinent again next month.

Gilchrist famously captained Australia to a 2-1 triumph in India in 2004, leading the side in the absence of injured skipper Ricky Ponting as the tourists won a series there for the first time since Bill Lawry's Australians were victorious in 1969.

Underlining Australia's struggles in India over the course of more than six decades, Gilchrist and Lawry are the only two surviving Australian captains to have led a Test series win there, while the late Ian Johnson (1956) and Richie Benuad (1959-60) also achieved the feat.

The former wicketkeeper-batsman and his fast-bowling weapon Jason Gillespie spoke last week about how Australia's reliance on pace and bowling a stump-to-stump line was the key to their success in India 13 years ago.

But Gilchrist says the ability of the Australian players to win the battle in their own minds over the next few months will be just as important as the physical contest out in the middle.

"We always ran with a quote about attitudes being contagious and asking yourself 'is yours worth catching?'," Gilchrist told cricket.com.au last week.

"India can terrorise you in mind and physically, but it can treat you beautifully too. It's a real emotional roller-coaster on and off the field. But throughout the whole time there you've just got to have a positive attitude.

"Too often we went there with too much build-up ... and we were beaten before we got there. But in 2001 (when Australia won the first Test before losing the series 2-1) and 2004 we started to wrestle that back.

"It was still a difficult challenge, but having the right attitude and a positive one will help them succeed there."

Australia will head to India next month having been winless in 10 Tests there since that 2004 series, and they also carry the added burden of an 11-match winless run in all Asian Tests.

But the majority of the squad knows exactly what cricket and life in India has to offer; nine members of this year's 16-man squad toured there in 2013, while 10 of them have played in the Indian Premier League.

Gilchrist's former Test and ODI teammate Mike Hussey, who himself played six Tests in India as well as eight seasons in the IPL, says the team's IPL experience will lessen the culture shock of spending around six weeks in the world's second-most populous nation.

But he cautioned it would do little to prepare them for what to expect on the field.

"I don't think it helps at all with the cricket side of things," Hussey told cricket.com.au. "A Test match in India is completely different to an IPL game in India.

"But I do think it helps with the external things like dealing with the media, dealing with the people, the crazy fans, knowing the culture and how the hotels work, what food to eat and what not to eat. That can be pretty daunting the first couple of times you go over there.

"So those guys who have had experience being in India, they'll feel very comfortable with the surroundings.

"But the actual cricket on the field is going to be completely different."

Australia will head into the first Test in Pune hoping to build on a four-match winning streak in Test cricket, which has come after they lost five Tests in a row in 2016 to give up series away to Sri Lanka and at home to South Africa.

Gilchrist says the turnaround from Steve Smith's side this summer has resulted in much-needed stability ahead of their battle with the world's No.1 Test nation.

"The team is as aware of it as anyone that they have a terrific challenge coming up," he said.

"They've turned it around beautifully this summer so what that allows is for them to have a more settled mindset in regards to the make-up for the squad and the team.

"(And) I think the squad covers a whole lot of options that they can go by way of tactics."