Indian captain Sourav Ganguly has raised the stakes in the Test series against Australia starting on Wednesday, saying the world champions had reason to fear his team.
And even though the Indians have had a poor run in limited-overs tournaments this season, Ganguly believes the hosts have a "huge psychological advantage" going into the highly-anticipated series.
"I am certain they are worried about playing us," Ganguly told AFP ahead of the first Test at the Chinnaswamy stadium here.
"The Aussies know that we are the only side that comes hard at them. And that will be a huge psychological advantage for us.
"We are always formidable at home and they know it. I am not saying we will certainly win the series, you can't predict that, but it will be a very, very close contest."