Speaking at a news conference Monday as India’s players surprised observers by taking a rest day three days out from the start of the first test, Pujara said Ashwin had been working hard to conquer his record of under-performance in Australian conditions. Mostly green and often downtrodden, the humble grass on which the highly-anticipated Australia-India Tests will be played doesn’t normally attract as many headlines as superstars Virat Kohli and Mitchell Starc. Throw in Australia being without Smith and Warner, and it points to India starting as overwhelming favourites. I had been given a most believable forecast of an Indian win, straight from the horse’s mouth, on the fourth evening of the Melbourne Test. “When you’re batting at the other end with Steve Smith it takes your mind off the fact you’re out there, you can switch off and watch him do his work – pretty awesome to watch”. You can put a few fielders out (on the boundary) early on; don’t let him get any boundaries. Perhaps do not pass as competitive at him early on. So it was decided that each batsman was responsible for a bowler, so I realised that the only way I can score runs…