Stuart Clark believes Australia’s “world-class” fast bowlers will be the key to beating India ahead of their upcoming Test series.

India are looking to retain the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in their five-match series, having triumphed 2-1 in the teams’ last meeting in 2022-23.

Meanwhile, Australia, playing their first Test match since March, have not tasted success in a series against India since 2014-15.

India are coming off the back of a heavy defeat to New Zealand in the longest format though, and Clark, who represented Australia between 2006 and 2009, thinks their bowlers have the ability to cause real problems.

“Well, I think the three fast bowlers, I think they need to play as much as possible,” he told Stats Perform. “They’re world-class.

“They’re the best quartet of bowlers in the history of the game if you throw Lyon in there. So, you got three fast bowlers and [Nathan] Lyon. So, I think those three fast bowlers in particular need to stay fit, and they need to stay healthy.

“We’ve seen when they have been fit and healthy and in good form. [Josh] Hazlewood, [Mitchell] Starc and [Pat] Cummins, they have dominated other teams around the world. And then you come to Australia on the bouncy pitches that we have here, and they go straight to Perth, which is just a baptism of fire. I think that will be the big key.

“And then you got, I don’t think Rohit Sharma’s coming for the first two games, I think he’s missing the first two games for family reasons. [Virat] Kohli hasn’t been in the best of form. The spinners in [Ravindra] Jadeja and Ravi Ashwin aren’t as effective in Australia as they are in the subcontinent.

“So, from that point of view, there’s a few of those little byplays or little storylines that are going on. But coming back to my first point is that the three fast bowlers, they hold a big key to the success in this tour, in the series.”

India’s recent defeat to New Zealand was the first time they lost a Test series 3-0 on home soil in their history and the first time they have lost three red-ball matches in any singles home series since 1983.

In Australia, India will be without Rohit Sharma, who stayed at home for the birth of his second child, for the first Test, while Shubman Gill is also set to miss out with a fractured thumb.

Clark noted that their absences, along with the recent struggles of Kohli, who managed just 93 runs across his six innings in the New Zealand series, will come as a confidence boost as Australia aim to snap their losing run against India.

“They should take confidence from that [India loss],” he added. “India haven’t been beaten by anyone in you know who knows how long.

“So, they are so good in their conditions, and they’re so foreign to everyone else. But it probably shows the vulnerability of the Indian team – they’re probably at the point where they’re starting to go through a bit of a generational change with their batting.

“They’ve been around for a long period of time. They’re not in the best form that they’ve ever been in. So that’s starting to cause them some concerns.

“[Jasprit] Bumrah has been injured. He’s back. He’s world-class. There’s no question about that. But can he get through five Test matches? [Mohammed] Siraj has been around.

“So, there’s some questions again around the Indian cricket team. And how much has that form in India dented their confidence because like all things in sport, if you’re confident about what you’re doing, that makes a massive difference to the way you play.