IND vs AUS, 4th Test: Paine & Co focusing on performance, not bothered about record against India

IND vs AUS, 4th Test: Paine said Australia's inexperienced batting line-up failed to get going in Melbourne, but will slowly learn from mistakes

The Australians are gearing up for the much win Test against India, beginning from Wednesday at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG). They are lagging 2-1 in the series while India need to at least draw the game to claim a piece of history.

Meanwhile, the home captain, Tim Paine has stated that his “work-in-progress” team is unfazed by the prospect of losing a home Test series to India for the first time and will only be focussed on being competitive in the fourth Test here.

“My focus has been on us improving and us playing the best possible cricket we can. We want to win every Test we play. At times it's not possible. We're playing the best Test team in the world at the moment who are playing really well,” Paine admitted in the pre-match press conference.

“I haven't thought too much about losing the series, that's for sure. Some guys will use different things to motivate them. My motivation is making sure we're improving, competitive at all times and put up a really good fight against India," he said.

Paine said Australia's inexperienced batting line-up failed to get going in Melbourne, but will slowly learn from mistakes. No Australian batsman has scored a hundred yet in this series and it is something the skipper hoped would be remedied in this final match.

“We are constantly a work in progress as I said before, it is about trying to keep a bit of perspective, a reality about where we are at. I think we are showing signs of getting better,” he said.

“I think in the last Test while our batters didn't set the world on fire, most guys got a start and showed that they can succeed at this level. So in this Test there is going to be a real focus from our batting group," he added.

Australia are expected to make a couple of changes, with Aaron Finch making way for Usman Khawaja at the top and Peter Handscomb coming in for Mitchell Marsh. But the hosts haven't named their playing eleven for the first time in the series. Paine shrugged off suggestions that he could move up the order.

“We want to try and settle guys who we think will play long-term in their positions looking forward into the next series and then into the Ashes. But at the same time we've got to find the best eleven to win this Test as well, so it's a bit of a balancing act," he explained.