"These guys just break you down mentally, physically" - Steve O'Keefe recalls India wearing Australia down during the 2016-17 Test tour

Former Australian Test cricketer Steve O'Keefe recently reflected on the India tour of 2016-17 and claimed that the series left him exhausted by the fourth match. O'Keefe recalled how the hosts wore them down and won their series with their rock-solid defense.

Australia were in the hunt for a landmark series win in India in early 2017 as they gave themselves a 1-0 lead by winning the first Test. However, they lost two out of the next three Tests to concede the series.

Speaking to The Age, Steve O'Keefe said his body had almost given up after bowling 77 overs in the third Test in Ranchi. The left-arm spinner recalled feeling clueless about how to break the Indian batters' defense and hailed their risk-free method of scoring:

"Personally the tour just wore me down by the fourth Test. I’m not proud to admit it. I was a bit burnt out. I invested a lot of energy in the three games up to that point, bowling 77 overs in an innings in Ranchi.

"These guys just break you down mentally, physically, not by playing big shots and taking the game away from you, but by just slowly chipping away getting singles, getting off strike, their forward defence seemed."

O'Keefe continued:

"At times, you’re like ‘I can’t see a way of getting past...’ These guys were just bulletproof in their defence and had a way of manipulating the scoreboard to keep it moving, keep getting off strike and at times it felt like whatever plans you had were a bit redundant."

Australia's first-innings total of 450 at Ranchi, though formidable, ended up being short as India batted for 210 overs before declaring at 603/9. India's number three Cheteshwar Pujara made 202 after facing 525 deliveries.

The visitors put up a brilliant rearguard action in the fourth innings to save the Test.

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"I’m so bullish about this team" - Steve O'Keefe

Australia cricket team. (Image Credits: Getty)

Steve O'Keefe reckons the current Australian squad is in a better place to clinch the Border-Gavaskar Trophy as they have a formidable batting unit which can counter spin well. The Malaysian-born player, who took 12 wickets in the Pune Test back in 2017, added:

"I’m so bullish about this team. A lot of those guys who are part of that (2017) experience would have learned so much from that. At times we got close, and the next time becomes a little bit easier.

"I believe that is going to be the case this time. We’re going over with a strong batting group who play spin really well. Marnus [Labuschagne] hasn’t played over there but is a good player of spin, we’ve seen that already. Cameron Green is elite, so I feel this group is strong."

Steve Smith will arguably be the key batter for Australia as he averages 60 in Tests in India, while Nathan Lyon looms as a vital cog in their bowling line-up. The first Test against India starts on February 9 in Nagpur.