Cameron Green is even better than what you have heard

Australian captain Tim Paine says his team is better than what is was two years ago Picture: Getty Images

Take a deep breath. It’s been a trying year and a trying couple of weeks in the lead up to this summer, but we’re here, we’re confident about what our team looks like and ready for what is going to be a great Border-Gavaskar series.

There’s a lot of conjecture, but we’ve settled on what our first team looks like.

All those injuries have had us scrambling around because it is not easy getting people in and out of quarantine, but everybody is together now, excited and ready to go.

This team is not the one that took on India two years ago, it is not even the one that played last summer, we are in a better place and playing even better cricket. The Ashes were critical to our growth and I can tell you we are very confident about this series.

Young Cameron Green has arrived and looks set to make his debut if he is passed fit and that is very exciting.

You’ve probably heard how good he is, I’m here to tell you he is better than that.

Matthew Wade and I had to face him in Perth a year ago and we both said to each other “bloody hell, that kid can really bowl”.

At lunch the young blokes in the squad said “wait until you see him bat”.

Cameron Green is poised to make his debut on Thursday Picture: Getty Images

We both thought there was no way that he can bat better than he bowled but they were right.

The other thing that’s impressive about him is his temperament. He understands the game and you can tell already that he just loves the contest. He’s a very competitive character and a very smart cricketer.

I know everybody is disappointed for Will Pucovski but the important thing for him and all of us to remember is that he has got so much time. He is 22, he is a world-class player and there is no rush.

Look at Michael Hussey, look at Chris Rogers, look at my experience. I got a taste when I was young but I was over 30 when I came back into the side.

India's captain Virat Kohli catches the ball at training in Adelaide on Tuesday Picture: AFP

We want him playing, the public wants to see him because he is a special talent but we have to give him time and make sure he is right. This is a kid who can play 100 Test matches and to make sure he has a long career we have to play the long game.

It is fantastic to have Virat Kohli and the Indians back here and we have to thank them for making the effort in difficult circumstances.

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In cricket you measure yourself against the best and these guys are in that category.

They might have beaten us last time, but as I said that was a vastly different squad and I know we have a mature, confident cricket team.

There’d been a bit going on before India arrived in 2018 and it is true that we maybe weren’t sure of who we were and how we should go about it, but things fell into place in Perth.

We were taking tentative steps then, finding our feet and they tried to exploit that but we found them in that series and have not looked back since.

The freakish Marnus Labuschagne Picture: Getty Images

Virat is a great competitor and loves a confrontation, but to be honest that stuff doesn’t bother me much. I’m 36-years-old, four years ago I was not even playing cricket and every day I do is a good day. I just love playing the game, it brings me great joy to do it. I don’t let any of that noise bother me.

India are a benchmark but we want to be tested, we want to play against the best and prove we are the best. We are fully expecting to win this series and win it well. Maybe last time we weren’t.

We’ve obviously got Steve Smith back since that last series, David Warner’s not far away and this extraordinary creature called Marnus Labuschagne has emerged in the intervening years.

I think our pace attack is even better now than it was then. I think if you go down the list every cricketer on it has improved which is a big tick for our coaching staff.

Travis Head, Marcus Harris, Matthew Wade and even Tim Paine is a better player.

We think we are the best team in the world and there’s a lot of love in the room off the field. We bonded in England, we are very tight. Sometimes in squads players go off and do their own thing and that’s fine, but that’s not happening with this group which is extraordinary.

Get excited, I am.