Making a mockery of 'whitewash' calls

Australia's Test side deserve credit for impressive performances in the ongoing four-match tour of India, proving wrong a host of experts and pundits who predicted a whitewash for the home side, batsman Gautam Gambhir said.

Australia, who suffered a five-match losing streak between July and November last year, faced the daunting task at the start of the series of overcoming an Indian outfit that were unbeaten in 19 consecutive Tests.

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Former India spinner Harbhajan Singh and captain Sourav Ganguly predicted a series sweep for Virat Kohli's men but the visitors have fought hard and the series is tied at 1-1 with the final Test to come, beginning in Dharamsala on Saturday.

"We should give credit to the Australian side which has played remarkably," Delhi opener Gambhir, who is not involved in the current series, told the Hindustan Times.

"Most players like Harbhajan (Singh) and Sourav (Ganguly) predicted a whitewash for India, but they have proved themselves brilliantly and with everything on the line, Australia will be a tricky opponent."

The series has been somewhat tarnished by ongoing acrimony between the two sides, highlighted by a row in the second Test in Bengaluru, in which India accused Australia captain Steve Smith of seeking advice from his dressing room over the use of the Decision Review System (DRS).

However, Gambhir, who has played 58 Tests for India, said sledging was part of the game and it was hard for players to keep a lid on their emotions on the international stage.

"It is fine to play hard and do whatever you can to upset the opposition till the time you don't get personal," the 35-year-old added.

"These are not robots playing the game, and when you are playing for your country and there are so many expectations on your shoulder, emotions can take over sometimes."

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Peter Handscomb, hero of Australia's series-saving draw in the third Test, said while the team was already proud of its achievements as staunch underdogs throughout the tour, there is a belief among the playing group that victory is attainable in Dharamsala.

"Now that we have had that second innings (in Ranchi) where we batted so well, we know we can take that belief into the first innings at Dharamsala and go from there and hopefully score big first innings runs," Handscomb said.

Nice spot for a series decider 😏 #INDvAUS pic.twitter.com/bf2hQdtiuk

"It’s obviously an exciting Test. To come into this final Test with scores level and the series still wide open is awesome.

"Already we can walk away from this series with our heads held high, and if we keep performing the way we are in this final Test we can definitely come away with a win."

Test Squads

India (for fourth Test): Virat Kohli (c), Murali Vijay, KL Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Wriddhiman Saha, Ravichandaran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Ishant Sharma, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Umesh Yadav, Karun Nair, Jayant Yadav, Kuldeep Yadav, Abhinav Mukund, Mohammed Shami.

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

Australia's schedule in India

Feb 23-27, First Test, Pune – Australia won by 333 runs.

Mar 4-8, Second Test, Bengaluru – India won by 75 runs.

Mar 16-20, Third Test, Ranchi – match drawn.

Mar 25-29, Fourth Test, Dharamsala