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Bangalore: Indian captain Sourav Ganguly has raised the stakes in the Test series against Australia, saying the world champions had reason to fear his team.

And even though the Indians have had a poor run in limited-overs tournaments this season, Ganguly believes the hosts have a "huge psychological advantage" going into the highly-anticipated series.

"I am certain they are worried about playing us," Ganguly said ahead of the first Test starting at the Chinnaswamy stadium in Bangalore on Wednesday.

"The Aussies know that we are the only side that comes hard at them. And that will be a huge psychological advantage for us.

"We are always formidable at home and they know it. I am not saying we will certainly win the series, you can't predict that, but it will be a very, very close contest."

Australia, who last won a Test series on Indian soil in 1969 under Bill Lawry, have lost five of the last seven Tests they played here since 1996.

In 2001, Ganguly's men fought back from a four-day drubbing in the first Test and a 274-run deficit in the second to conjure up a stunning 2-1 series win in the final session of the third and final Test.

That the Indians reserve their best cricket for the Australians was evident on the tour down under last season when they held Steve Waugh's world beaters to a 1-1 draw.

"The Aussies bring out the best in us," Ganguly said. "And I am confident the same will happen again despite a very ordinary start to the season where we played poor cricket."

India, the 2003 World Cup finalists, failed to win four one-day tournaments over the last two months in Sri Lanka, the Netherlands and England, including the Champions Trophy.

Ganguly, India's most successful Test captain with 15 wins, concedes the Australian series will test his leadership qualities.

"Maybe you are only as good as the team you lead, but I have never shirked away from the responsibility given to me," he said.

"It's my job to lead from the front. There will always be a lot said when we are not doing well but in the end what matters is that the captain and the team are willing to stand up and be counted."

It was Ganguly's 144 in the first Test at Brisbane last summer that sparked India's resurgence which almost ruined Steve Waugh's farewell series.

Like him or hate him, the proud Calcuttan is not easily ignored.

"Many rivals, most famously certain Australians, have insisted that on good days he is unbearably prickly, on bad days an unbearable prick," an Australian journalist wrote recently of Ganguly.

But team-mates swear by their captain. "I am where I am because of Dada (elder brother)," says young off-spinner Habhajan Singh. "I can say that for the other guys in the team as well: we can do anything for him."

Ganguly was at his combative best when asked if Sachin Tendulkar's likely absence from the first Test due to a tennis elbow injury will give Australia the edge.

"I think the Aussies will be hurt more by the absence of captain Ricky Ponting," he countered.

"It affects the team when the captain is not around and the Australians are no exception. It will put them in a lot of pressure."

Ponting has been ruled out of the first two Tests of the four-match series with a broken thumb suffered during the Champions Trophy. Adam Gilchrist will lead the tourists in his absence.