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Toss alone can't flip India record: Boof

Australia coach reiterates view on ditching the coin toss but doesn't believe it will determine Test series

Australia coach Darren Lehmann is no fan of the toss, but he knows the fall of the coin won't dictate whether the tourists enjoy a breakthrough subcontinent success.

Lehmann has previously outlined his vision for the toss to be eliminated from Test cricket, proposing the visiting side be given the option of batting or bowling.

Such a system, a version of which was adopted in England's domestic four-day competition last year, would encourage curators around the world to produce pitches that deliver a fair balance between bat and ball.

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If Steve Smith was asked what he wanted to do in Pune, Bangalore, Ranchi and Dharamsala it would be an immense boost to Australia's hopes of upsetting India in the four-Test series that starts on Thursday.

But it would be no guarantee of success. The nine members of the current 16-man squad learned that when they toured India in 2013.

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"We won four tosses last time we were here and lost 4-0," Lehmann said of the defeats that kickstarted a nine-Test losing streak in Asia.

"You've still got to play well if you win a toss.

"My views on the toss is that it should just go anyway, that's the way I've always been. Whether you're here or Australia, it doesn't matter."

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Lehmann and chairman of selectors Trevor Hohns will get their first look at the Pune pitch on Tuesday, when Australia train at Smith's homeground in the Indian Premier League.

Ravichandran Ashwin, the offspinner sitting atop the ICC's Test bowling rankings, recently quipped "the wickets in India are so well rolled (it) will help" Australia's batsmen.

The tourists are upbeat they won't encounter the sort of landmine-laden raging turner of yesteryear at any of the three venues hosting their first ever Test.

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"They produce good wickets, so looking forward to good five-day Test (pitches) that deteriorate over five days," Lehmann said.

That hasn't always been the case during the past 47 years, when Australia have won just one Test series in India.

A notable example came in 1998, when Chennai curator K Parthasarathy attempted to help nullify Shane Warne.

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"I kept the square patches outside the leg stump, on either side of the wicket, really hard. It was difficult to get turn from that part as there would be no rough," Parthasarathy said in 2013.

"After that game, Warne came to me and asked why he wasn't getting the turn and others were. I told him it was because of his dodgy shoulder."

India's spinners took all 20 Australian wickets in the first Test of 2013, also at Chennai.

More recently the top-ranked Test side completed a crushing 4-0 win over England last December, but four of those five Tests went to a fifth day.

Test Squads

India (for first two Tests): Virat Kohli (c), Murali Vijay, KL Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Wriddhiman Saha (wk), Ravichandaran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Ishant Sharma, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Umesh Yadav, Karun Nair, Jayant Yadav, Kuldeep Yadav, Abhinav Mukund, Hardik Pandya.

Australia: Steve Smith (c), David Warner (vc), Ashton Agar, Jackson Bird, Peter Handscomb, Josh Hazlewood, Usman Khawaja, Nathan Lyon, Mitchell Marsh, Shaun Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Stephen O'Keefe, Matthew Renshaw, Mitchell Starc, Mitchell Swepson, Matthew Wade

Australia's schedule in India


Feb 23-27, First Test, Pune


Mar 4-8, Second Test, Bengaluru


Mar 16-20, Third Test, Ranchi

Mar 25-29, Fourth Test, Dharamsala