India left-arm spinner Kuldeep Yadav expects spinners to play a big role in the Test series in Australia, especially in the pink-ball first Test in Adelaide. As expected, the build up to the series has all been about the pace attacks of both sides but Kuldeep said spinners will be difficult to pick under lights too.

"I feel it's difficult to read spinners at night, because if a spinner uses variations it's not always easy to spot the seam position of the ball. That can be an advantage for us. I have never experienced a pink ball match outside India. So, it will be exciting to see how it goes," Kuldeep told KKR.in.

"It’ll be unfair to say spinners haven’t dominated in Australian conditions, there have been many instances when spinners have done well down under. It completely depends on how quickly you adapt to, and read the conditions. A lot of us, having played so much T20 cricket of late, will have to be patient when playing Test cricket. Mental toughness is very important. When switching to the longer format, you sometimes tend to try too many things too quickly. Wickets don’t come easy in Test cricket, so patience is the key."

India had won the 2018-19 series 2-1, but in some quarters it was considered a consequence of 'luck' as Australia were without David Warner and Steve Smith. Kuldeep stressed India deserved the win, saying: "A Test series can never be won by luck.

"You need to win Test matches to win a series. We won two of them, and could have one the fourth one too had there been no rain. The criticism holds no merit. Whenever you are playing against a team, your own team’s performance matters the most. So instead of looking at the other team - who they have in their squad, and who they don’t - it makes more sense to talk about your own team. We did well, and hence we won the Test series. If our fast bowling works well and we perform as prolifically with the bat as we did the last time, we will win this time too.

"Yes, their team has now improved with the return of the experienced David Warner, Steve Smith and the likes of Marnus (Labuschagne), who has really done well for them in recent times. But last time too, their team was good but we played really some really good cricket to win. Looking forward to the challenge once again, it’s going to be a great contest."

Kuldeep, who will be fighting for a spot with spinners Ravindra Jadeja and R Ashwin, opened up on the inputs from Shane Warner.

"He has shared a lot of valuable inputs about bowling over the years, but mainly, he talks about mental preparation. One thing he always insists on is to always wear a smile on my face. He has told me that's a very important virtue for a spinner. If your face shows any sense of stress, your body language goes for a toss. I’ve worked on this specifically and I consider it as one of the best advice I’ve got."