KEY POINTS:
Captain Mahendra Dhoni has highlighted concerns that India could be physically and mentally exhausted by the time they arrive in Australia in December.
The Twenty20 masters defeated Australia by seven wickets in their one-off match on Saturday night at the Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai.
But there are fears the return contests in Australia this summer might be one-sided because of India's gruelling schedule.
They have been flat out almost since May and play arch rivals Pakistan in a three-test and five-match one-day series before landing in Australia in December.
"We have a 10-day gap right now, and in between the Pakistan series and the Australian series we have just a three or four day gap," said Dhoni who was icing a niggling knee injury post-match.
"It's quite tough on the cricketers, but that's the way it goes."
A rotation system and the absence of Sourav Ganguly, Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid from the Twenty20 side will ease the load on key players.
The Australian team will be relatively fresh by comparison, having only started their international season last month.
They have two tests against Sri Lanka in Brisbane (Nov 8-12) and Hobart (Nov 16-20) and three one-day matches against New Zealand before meeting India again.
It is difficult to see those matches having anything in comparison with the passion that arises whenever India play Pakistan in cricket.
Australia's injury list is diminishing by the day with Shaun Tait impressing this weekend in his first match back for South Australia since elbow surgery.
Mitchell Johnson missed Saturday night's Twenty20 clash because of a slight groin complaint but could have played if Australia had really felt it necessary.
Matthew Hayden has returned from a hip injury while Mike Hussey and Shane Watson are working their way back.
"As far as fitness of the guys, everyone is right as rain and in very good shape," said Ponting.
"He [Johnson] had a bit of a tight groin going into today.
"If it had been a World Cup final he probably would have been out on the field."
Australia also thrive on home turf, having not been defeated in a home test series since the 1992-93 loss to the West Indies.
The Indians play Victoria in a three-day tour match at the Junction Oval from December 20-22 before the Boxing Day test at the MCG.
