"The Australians will certainly play a hard game. And India should be ready for it. They would want to win the series for Phil Hughes and will go all out in their efforts to come up trumps. They have got a good team and India will certainly find it tough against them," Akram told PTI ahead the much-awaited Test series.
The left-handed batsman was hit on the head by New South Wales pacer Sean Abbott in a domestic game in Sydney on November 25 and succumbed to his injuries two days after in a city hospital.
Describing Hughes' fatal injury as a "freak incident", Akram said as a pacer, he feels for Abbott, the bowler.
"You feel for the young guy (Abbott). But I would just tell him to ease up. It could have happened with anybody. It's not his fault at all. He is being counselled and I guess he will bounce back," the former Pakistan captain said.
