Mitchell Johnson aims to lift in India

Australia's fast bowlers are fine-tuning with the SG balls that will be used in India and Mitchell Johnson believes the tactic is the first step towards a series success. Johnson, the attack leader, needs to be in form if Australia are to have a chance in the two Tests in October and is looking forward to the challenge after struggling against Pakistan in England.

"Practising with the SG balls is the first step for us," Johnson said in the Daily Telegraph. "The seams sit up a little bit more [than the Australian Kookaburra balls] and are a bit narrower. The SG balls are also a lot harder.

"Obviously our wickets don't rough up the balls as much as their wickets do. In India the ball can reverse after 10 overs. It is always a challenge playing in those conditions. I always look forward to it no matter how hard it is."

Johnson, who has 158 wickets in 36 Tests, is an unpredictable paceman who can be destructive or wayward. He didn't trouble the Pakistanis at Lord's or Leeds in July and finished the series with three victims at 72.33 to continue his troubles in England after last year's Ashes series.

"I just wasn't there mentally and physically," he said. "I felt a little bit off. What I have learnt from bowling in those conditions is you do need to be a touch fuller. My role is that I like to hit the deck hard and bowl those short ones as well. I was a little bit short on the wicket there.

"In the end my preparation was not quite right. I had had an elbow [infection] and I just wasn't mentally there. With the Ashes series coming up, India will be a good challenge."