Ashes thoughts swept aside ahead of tough Indian Test tour Michael Clarke celebrates his maiden test century on the 2004 Indian tour. NO ONE is talking Ashes in the Australian team. The last group of us leaves today for one of the toughest assignments in cricket, a Test tour of India. We can't afford to be looking forward or back. If we're not focused on the task at hand we won't succeed. So important is this series that most of the players are already in India preparing to play the first of two tour matches, beginning today. The rest of us will have a three-day match before the first of four Tests begins at Chennai in 10 days. It is no surprise that Australia have won just a single Test series in India over the past 43 years. That was my debut series in 2004. This highlights just how tough it is to succeed in such different conditions, which is why we have chosen a large squad of 17. We want to make sure we cover all bases, particularly with our attack, with five fast bowlers, two spinners, a medium pace all-rounder and a spinning all-rounder. Through history the best players and the best teams have been able to adapt in all conditions and circumstances. It is one thing to succeed in your own backyard with familiar surrounds and quite another when everything is completely different. Fast bowlers played a big part in our success during 2004 and will again. While taking the new ball is the best time to bowl in Australia, it's actually the easiest time to bat on flatter Indian wickets, with the ball coming onto the bat. It gets harder to bat as the game goes on when the ball starts to reverse swing and the pitch wears and turns. Reverse swing is something we must master but the overriding factor for the bowlers is patience. As Indian pitches wear they develop natural variation. Deliveries begin to bounce at different heights and come on at varying pace. Fast bowlers must bowl straight attempting to gain lbws and bowleds rather than catches behind the wicket like in Australia. On any Indian tour there is always a lot of spin, as we saw with England's recent success there, so at times conditions could dictate two spinners. India is not only a great test of skill and stamina, it is a great test of character. During long, hot days a match can seem to be progressing slowly but it can change suddenly when conditions are at their toughest and fatigue can become an issue. While we are a largely young I have been pleased with our progress over the past 12 months, winning five Tests, drawing three, with the weather playing a part in two of those, and losing just one.