A baptism of fire: Seniors give pointers to GenNext

In the school of hard knocks, a tour of Australia is perhaps the hardest of them all. It tests you in ways expected and unexpected.

It starts off with the crowd, brings in the abrasive local media and finally ends with a team that is very tough to beat at home.

Starting in 1877, Australia have played 445 Tests at home and won 259 of them. Their win-loss ratio of 2.539 in home Tests is unmatched in the game and even though India have won on their last two trips, no place challenges a cricketer like a tour Down Under.

It could, as it has done over the years, break a cricketer. But if you manage to come out of it well, it could prove to be the start of something great. A successful tour fills you with confidence that could last a career and the lessons learnt go a long way in helping keep the player grounded.

This is precisely the message that India head coach Gautam Gambhir and some of the senior players have shared with the younger members of the squad on their first tour of Australia. India won there with a motley crew during the last tour, so the team management will be confident of the squad's ability to adapt to the different conditions. But this time, India are coming off a series loss at home and the touring party has as many as eight members who have never played a Test on Australian soil.