Australian hardwork of 18 months showing results: Carey

Australia had come into the series against India looking to make the most of a five-match series before the World Cup, and now they stand on the cusp of winning the series when they come out to play the fifth game at the Ferozeshah Kotla on Wednesday.

The visiting vice-captain Alex Carey feels that the hardwork over the last 12 to 18 months have slowly started to bear fruit as the Aussies head towards the showpiece event.

"We were put under pressure early in the series. Really exciting with series on the line and the boys are very excited. For us, we played some very good cricket even in the first two games, but just fell short. We have been working really hard and success is starting to come. We are really confident going into the final game tomorrow," he said.

While this team has done well, the likes of Steve Smith, David Warner and Mitchell Starc are expected to return for the World Cup, and Carey feels it is a healthy sign to see such competition for places.

"I hope so. Those are big names waiting to comeback. This is very healthy for Australian cricket," he said.

Commenting on the reason behind the team's success, Carey said: "If you look across the board, everyone has done well. Usman Khawaja and Ashton Turner have done well, Peter Handscomb scored his first hundred, Adam Zampa and Glenn Maxwell have done well. It is really good to see the players doing well in really high-pressure games."

The team has negated the spin of Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav quite ably, and Carey said that a lot of hardwork has gone behind this.

"We have worked really hard on playing spin bowling at the nets. Getting the rewards of the hardwork for the last 18 months. Also training against some quality Indian spinners at the nets. It will again be a good contest tomorrow. Pleasing to see the performance," he said.

--IANS

bbh/ajb/bc