India vs Australia: Phil Hughes backs changes in ODI rules

Indian bowlers might be finding it difficult adjusting to the new ODI rules of using two balls from either end of the ground but the visiting Australian side, boasting of a fiery pace attack, was quite happy with the change in the playing conditions, said opener Phil Hughes. (Read 4th ODI preview: Hosts under pressure to bury ghosts of Mohali at MS Dhoni's home)

"What's going ahead has been fantastic. If you look around at the different countries it works in different ways. You come here and the wickets are quite good for batting but if you go to England or Australia you could have a pitch that offers more for bowlers," Hughes said.

"You'll see games that are 30/3 up front. It's different conditions. I think it's a great thing about touring around the world. You see different scores and there've been a lot of big scores in this series to date," Hughes told reporters at the pre-match press conference.

With the introduction of two new balls, the Indian pacers who rely more on reverse swing after the ball becomes old, have been rendered ineffective. Paceman Ishant Sharma leaked 30 runs in a match-changing 48th over in Mohali but Hughes said it was just plain hitting all over the park by James Faulkner.

"If you look at the last game, it was a great batting performance from everyone. Ishant has been a quality bowler around the world for a number of years. You always respect that," he added.

"We respect all their bowlers. There's no certain plan. Ashwin's been a very good performer for a number of years and we respect him. Definitely as batsmen we respect all the bowlers. When a bowler has a ball in their hand, they're always a chance of bowling a dot or getting a wicket," he said about their aggressive approach in India.

Aussies had returned home with a 0-4 thrashing in the Test series in February-March this year and Hughes said they have moved on from that defeat.

"The Test series wasn't as successful as we'd liked. This is a different format. I suppose the wickets are different and it's a white ball. But there's a couple of things I've picked out of the Test series I took home and worked on," he said.

"That was the first time I'd toured India in the international scene. There were a couple of things I've definitely worked on the last couple of months knowing that if I had a chance of coming back here (I wanted to be ready). It's a nice thing to tour and come back and get a couple of runs on the board," added Hughes.

He further said the change in support staff was working well with a 2-1 lead in the seven-match series.

"It's going along nicely at the moment. There's obviously been a bit of a change in the staff the last few months. When we lost the Test series it was very disappointing and we sat down and spoke about things where we could improve.

"To be 2-1 up in this series is really pleasing. The confidence of all the boys is really high. Hopefully, we can continue with our good form," he added.

Talking about strike bowler Mitchell Johnson, who has been troubling Indian batsmen with his pace and bounce, Hughes said, "He has been the star. He's been very consistent the last three games. He's bowled with some fierce pace."

The opening combination of Hughes and Aaron Finch is giving Aussies good starts in the ongoing series and the New South Wales batsman said they know each other's games well.

"We've had a really good relationship over the last five to ten years actually. We groomed together at the academy and always kept in touch. I love going out to bat with him. The one disappointing thing (with our partnerships) is that we'd like to make the partnership bigger and try and take the game on even more.

"We've been quite consistent in the first three games and we've spoken about not looking too far ahead. Hopefully we can keep posting totals on the board and setting the guys that come in through the middle order," he said.