Australia may be depleted, but that only means they are missing two members of the squad that demolished England in the Ashes series last year.

Steve Smith and David Warner were seen practising in the nets as Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood bowled at them in Sydney.

Phillip Hughes represented Australia in 26 Tests and 25 ODIs and scored 1535 and 826 runs respectively.

Both former skipper Smith and Warner have agreed to turn out at the Australia nets to bat against the pace trio of Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Pat Cummins.

Australia have failed to fix their batting woes after the suspensions to their star players in Steve Smith and David Warner.

Cricket Australia met on Monday to take a decision on the banned trio of Steve Smith, David Warner and Cameron Bancroft.

Cricket Australia handed one-year bans to Steve Smith and David Warner for their involvement in the ball-tampering scandal while Cameron Bancroft was given a nine-month suspension.

Johnson is not the first Australian cricketer to say that the bans should remain. Former skipper Ian Chappel had earlier mentioned that the bans should not be reduced.

Australian cricket is enduring one of its worst phases and a run of losses in recent times prompted calls to bring back their two star players before the contests against India.

The Royals have retained 16 players, who have been match-winners and young guns who stood up and delivered in the last season.

Having suffered defeats in their earlier overseas Test series in South Africa and England, the Virat Kohli and Co can salvage pride by winning in Australia.

India will play four Test matches against Australia with the first five-day contest commencing in Adelaide on December 6.

Steve Smith ban ends before the World Cup in England next year and it is the first time the Australian batsman has given his availability for the PSL.

Du Plessis says he's happy to take advantage of a depleted Australian lineup with some of their best players on the sidelines.

Thomson, arguably the fastest bowler in Test cricket history, said the Australian batting looks ordinary in the absence of Smith and Warner and India could achieve what they haven't before.

Tendulkar said he didn't want to get into the debate of whether the ban on Smith and Warner should be reduced or not.

The trio were suspended for their roles in the ball tampering scandal in the Cape Town Test in March where the former two leaders were handed a 12-month suspension and Bancroft given a nine-month ban.

New Australia coach Justin Langer and Test captain Tim Paine are charged with changing the culture within the Australian team.

Suspended Australian batsman Steve Smith has collected a total personal wealth of USD 27 million in the year 2018.

Harbhajan feels that India can win the upcoming Test series Down Under and with Smith and Warner out of the equation, it's their best chance.