The upcoming five-Test series between India and Australia will kick off at the new stadium in Perth, but the older venue, Western Australia Cricket Association (WACA) will have a deeper say in the efforts put by both teams ahead of the opening Test from November 22.

While India will be desperate to put behind the recent humiliation at the hands of New Zealand in the wake of a first-ever 3-0 whitewash at home, Australia’s top-order will also have a lot to work on if they are to outthink the genius of Jasprit Bumrah and Co. The absence of Mohammed Shami could be a dampener for the visitors, but that doesn’t lack the sting in the Indian attack, especially on pace-friendly surfaces like the one in Perth.

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Mixing formats to judge form isn’t the ideal way, but going by Australia’s almighty drubbing at the hands of Pakistan in the second ODI in Adelaide, one can say that the home batters also need to work on their batting ahead of their face-off with a quality Indian pace attack. There is no doubt that the wickets in Perth will assist the likes of Bumrah and Pat Cummins, and thus batters of either side have to put in the hard yards to get the better of the opposing bowling attacks.

Although Cummins was answering about himself when he said the “mind now switches to the red ball” at the post-match presentation after the loss to Pakistan allowed the visitors to level the brief limited over series, the comment could also be ringing bells in the ears of the top-order batters of the prospective Test squad that will be revealed in the coming days.

With less than a couple of weeks to go for the first Test of the Border-Gavaskar series, Cummins will hand over the captaincy duties to wicketkeeper-batter Josh Inglis for the third and final ODI in Perth, and the subsequent T20I series against Pakistan, with the star quick bowler joining the Test side to prepare for the India challenge.

Besides Cummins, Australia will be without the services of their senior players Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood, Marnus Labuschagne, and Steve Smith for the series decider in Perth on Sunday.

“We have a week at home. Good training sessions needed, mind now switches to the red ball (for the upcoming Test series vs India),” Cummins said.

Cummins’s words could resonate well for someone like Labuschagne, who had a forgettable series against Pakistan and has the highest score of 22 in his last five innings across four-day and one-day cricket. While his records in whites at the Optus Stadium in Perth have been outstanding, with 519 runs at an average of 103.80, he will hope to get back to beast mode in the next few days.

Handicapped by the absence of David Warner and Cameron Green, who had the two highest Test averages last season, due to injury and retirement, respectively, Australia would be desperately hoping the likes of Labuschagne and Smith to shoulder the responsibility in the top-order, along with the veteran Usman Khawaja, and his yet-to-be-named opening partner.

Travis Head, who was on paternity leave, hasn’t batted in any competitive match since early October and will be looking to find back his groove before the first ball is bowled in Perth. Similarly, Mitchell Marsh has been out of action for almost a month, and will need to do an encore of his last season’s self, when he produced critical innings in four of the seven Tests across series against Pakistan, West Indies, and New Zealand.

For India, if the dismal form of the senior pros — Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli — during the New Zealand series was a concern, KL Rahul’s forgettable performance during the ongoing four-day match between India A and Australia A, has added the frustration ahead of the series.

As such, the top-order batters of either side have a lot to ponder before the opening Test in Perth.