O'Keefe puts Panesar, Herath advice to work for India tour

Stop the boundaries, build pressure and attack the stumps. Steve O'Keefe outlined these fundamentals for Australia's spin bowlers as they train in Dubai to prepare for the gargantuan task of matching wits with India's batsmen on home turf in a four-Test series starting later this month.

O'Keefe dropped out of the Sydney Sixers' run to the Big Bash League final in order to prepare specifically for India, and his thoughts on how to bowl to the likes of Virat Kohli, Cheteshwar Pujara and Karun Nair are now clear. O'Keefe and his offspin partner Nathan Lyon have been aided by advice from Rangana Herath, Monty Panesar and Daniel Vettori.

Panesar's advice was pointed, arguing that stopping India's batsmen from scoring boundaries was critical, while at the same time using variations in pace depending on the subtleties of the pitches prepared for the series. "Monty has had a lot of success in India and it was great to work with him," O'Keefe said. "The keys he talked about was being adaptable.

"You're going to get different wickets, albeit they will be generally slow and spinning, but at times they can play a bit differently, might be a little bit quicker, one might bounce a bit more. He talked about being able to adapt really quickly and on the spot and also being able to take away the batter's scoring options in regards to boundaries... building pressure through being a little bit defensive, which was something that was, I guess, refreshing to hear."

Similarly, Herath and Vettori spoke about keeping pressure on by attacking the stumps and not being overawed by the occasion, nor the identities of the batsmen at the other end. "I've spoken to Gaz [Lyon] who has played here before and he has spoken to Daniel Vettori," O'Keefe said. "I was able to briefly chat with Rangana Herath in Sri Lanka.

"The main things you get from those guys is challenging the batter's defence, and if you can continually put the ball in the right area, given these conditions will spin more than what we're used to at home, that will help us. It's about building pressure and not being overawed. They're a class team, they're exceptional batters at home and it's going to be a big job.

"But I have no doubt if we get it right for a sustained longer periods we can do some damage."

To that end, O'Keefe and his fellow left-arm spinner Ashton Agar are two players to have benefited from the 2015 Australia A tour to India, where the visitors acquitted themselves well against a home side that featured Kohli, Nair, Pujara and KL Rahul.

"The positive was we got to play against those guys in those conditions, use an SG ball and compete," O'Keefe said. "We did really well, we were able to win a game and draw a game. It was positive to know that we were able to bowl against these guys, we were able to have some success.

"Both Ashton and I played over there and were both able to create chances and build pressure. I'll be drawing on that but I also know it's going to be quite hard. It's another step up and when these guys are playing for their country they go up another level as well, so we're going to have to match them, if not try and get on top of them if we're going to win."

The major recent obstacle for O'Keefe has been a series of physical ailments, namely calf and hamstring issues, a key reason why he chose to forego the BBL's bright lights for a more direct preparation. "At the moment the body feels good," he said. "Been able to get through some long sessions here in Dubai. I think getting that volume in will certainly put me in good stead.

"It wasn't an easy decision stepping away, and seeing the Sixers play in the final, it's something you miss out on. But for me it was about getting some volume under my belt, in that time I was able to get 100 overs in grade and second XI cricket and we also played with a Dukes ball which is a little bit similar to an SG, so I found it really beneficial."

The young Queensland legspinner Mitchell Swepson completes Australia's spin quartet.