Hayden praises Renshaw's spin focus

Australian great Matthew Hayden says he would relish the opportunity to meet with current Test opener Matt Renshaw as the youngster ramps up his preparation for his first tour of India.

And Hayden has praised the 20-year-old's spin-heavy training focus ahead of the tour, which has echoes of his own legendary preparation for his record-breaking 2001 series in India.

As a tall, left-handed opening batsman from Queensland, Renshaw has inevitably drawn comparisons to Hayden, one of Australia's greatest ever batsmen who was today announced as an inductee into the Australian Cricket Hall of Fame.

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Hayden's breakout series came 16 years ago in India, when he plundered 549 runs in three Tests having tuned up for the tour by spending hours mastering his sweep shot and famously dusting up practice pitches in Brisbane to mimic subcontinent conditions.  

Renshaw spent time last week training on the specially-designed spin wicket at the Bupa National Cricket Centre in Brisbane as part of a mini training camp with teammate Steve O'Keefe and former England spinner Monty Panesar.

It comes after he made a dream start to his Test career this summer having been given a shock debut in Adelaide in late November, posting his maiden century in Sydney earlier this month.

But Hayden said it was the rookie's maiden Test innings, where he defied a potent South African pace attack under lights against a swinging pink ball, that impressed him the most.

"There are a lot of defining moments in Test match cricket and they're not only about the hundreds you score, although he has done that," Hayden told cricket.com.au.

"For me, weathering the storm as he did (in Adelaide) with eight or nine overs to go at the end of a long day of fielding, getting through that and setting up the side for next day, I think speaks a lot about the quality of Matty. 

"The fact that even now he's looking forward to India, he's creating opportunities with groundsmen to talk about different conditions, learning about the game and what he's going to face in the next few months, they're all really positive signs. 

"I haven't met Matty and I'm looking forward to the occasion when I do.

"You're often judged on the number of runs, but I think those with an astute mind look at character and look at how you build your innings or how you build your position within the game. They're all good signs.

"And I'm looking forward to the day when I get to have a chance to have a good yarn to him."

Hayden stopped short of urging Renshaw to rely on the sweep shot in India like he did so successfully in 2001, but said all the Australian batsmen needed to be willing to attack India's spinners.

Tweakers Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja, the world's number one and number two ranked bowlers in the world, have been the driving force behind India's ascent to the top of the ICC's Test rankings and will give Australia a thorough working over when the four-Test series begins in Pune in a month.

The hosts have lost just two of 24 Tests at home in the past five years, while the Australians are winless from their past 10 Tests in India and have lost their past nine matches in Asia.

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No matter what the method, Hayden said Australia's batsmen need to be bold in order to unsettle India's bowlers.

"I don't know his game intimately enough (to tell him to sweep), but you've got to have attacking options," Hayden said of Renshaw.

"I think you're a duck waiting to be shot when you're in a situation where you can't attack.

"The conditions are relentless, they just keep coming at you and come at you a thousand miles an hour and you're seemingly under pressure. So you've got to have that circuit-breaker.

"If his game is to sweep and he's decided that's an option, I would fully endorse that. There's a certain technique which I'm sure he would have got advice for.

"Or if you're someone like Peter Handscomb who can be back in the crease and play behind the ball all the time, that's what someone like Sachin Tendulkar did. He's also quick on his feet so he's got the game, now he's just got to put it into practice."

As one of the few Test players without a KFC Big Bash League contract, Renshaw hasn't played any cricket since the Sydney Test three weeks ago and will get some welcome match practice this week in a Futures League match for Queensland's second XI in Perth.

He will then travel to the United Arab Emirates for a pre-Test training camp in Dubai ahead of the first Test in Pune on February 23.