Lawson said India's fate in the series, beginning Friday, would hinge on how young batsmen Cheteshwar Pujara and Virat Kohli fare.

"Virat Kohli was feisty and successful last summer in Australia and is quickly assuming the mantle of the keystone batsmen. He is young and aggressive - just the style India need to maintain a home mental edge that Tendulkar championed for so long. "Cheteshwar Pujara has been the most recent young-gun find for India and is averaging 58 in his first nine Tests. He was most impressive fending off Jimmy Anderson and holding the middle order together. The fortunes of he and Kohli may well shape the series outcome if the veterans run aground," he wrote. Lawson also believed that for India to excel, it needs spinners to perform and he also pointed out that they have every chance to trouble Australian batting line-up which has a lot of left-handers. "Spin is not a problem for India, especially on home surfaces, although Kevin Pietersen dominated them with ultra-aggressive batting. Australia have only a wounded Michael Clarke to assume that role, albeit with a scalpel rather than a sabre. Australia's left-handers will find trouble with Ashwin and Harbhajan turning away to slip," he mentioned. "India have a new batting order with Gambhir omitted and will not be comforted by Tendulkar or Sehwag's form. Sounds familiar, but at least they have some spin bowlers in form and in familiar conditions, and that may make the difference between two teams coming to terms with England's dominance."