Glen Maxwell advises Australian batsmen to learn from Virat Kohli and Co

Melbourne: Australian all-rounder Glenn Maxwell, who is eyeing a permanent spot at No. 6 in the Test side, has advised the teammates to learn from Virat Kohli and other Indian batters in order to combat spin during the upcoming four-match Test series starting February 23.

Maxwell is off the opinion that sticking to one strategy through an innings-let alone the four Tests- against Indian spinners like Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja would be dangerous for the team as it would set the Australian batsmen up for failure.

"I'm not sure it's a place you ever really feel comfortable. It's a place where you've got to work so hard to get your runs, and you've got to have different strategies at different times of a game," cricket.com.au quoted Maxwell as saying.

"That's probably what I've learned; you can't go in there with just one strategy and stick to it."

"You've got to be adaptable and you've got to be able to change your game almost mid-innings," he added.

The 28-year-old further said that the series against the No. 1 Test ranked side would be a "real test" of everyone.

"Even for the Indian players, you watch them, they go through different stages of their innings from sweeping, to using their feet, to playing off the back foot - they change all the way through their innings," said the mercurial all-rounder.

"Hopefully we can do similar stuff and work on our play of spin because it's going to be pretty key," he added.

Australia, which sit at the second spot in the ICC Test Rankings following a 3-0 whitewash in their home series against Pakistan, will face a herculean task against the Virat Kohli-led side.

Australia have not won a Test in India since 2004 and their last series victory in Asia came against Sri Lanka in 2011.

Infact, they have since suffered nine straight Test losses in the subcontinent and, therefore, it would a herculean task for them to tackle India, who recenlty defeated England 4-0 in the five-match Test series.

Australia Squad: Steve Smith (capt), David Warner, Ashton Agar, Jackson Bird, Peter Handscomb, Josh Hazlewood, Usman Khawaja, Nathan Lyon, Mitchell Marsh, Shaun Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Steve O'Keefe, Matthew Renshaw, Mitchell Starc, Mitchell Swepson, Matthew Wade (wk).