Australian pace spearhead Pat Cummins expects their spinners to play a bigger role in the ODI series against India even though he is not expecting dust-bowls during a limited-overs assignment.

The series begins in Mumbai on January 14, followed by the second and third match in Rajkot and Bangalore on January 17 and January 19, respectively.

“I think spinners play a bigger part in India than they do around the world but it’s rare you get a big spinning dust bowl for a one-day International,” Cummins told reporters.

Australia made a brilliant comeback to win the five-match ODI series 3-2 in India last year after trailing 0-2.

“Last series I think we played two spinners, they also played two so they are certainly important, especially in the middle overs,” Cummins said.

Australia are travelling with two specialist spinners in their squad — left arm spinner Ashton Agar and leg spinner Adam Zampa.

Talking about the tracks in India, the 26-year-old Cummins said the ball gets softer as the game progresses which makes it easier to bowl as compared to other countries. But playing in smaller, faster fields come with their own set of challenges.

“Up front there’s always a little bit in it with a new ball like anywhere else in the world. But then after that I actually feel that the ball gets probably a little bit softer and chewed up more over there than it does in other parts of the world which makes it a little bit easier sometimes bowling with a bit of a softer ball.

“But it’s just a different challenge, the fields there are a lot smaller and faster than here in Australia, the wickets aren’t as pacey and bouncy but it’s the same format just a slightly different beast,” he added.

Meanwhile, Mark Waugh has backed Marnus Labuschagne to prosper against India, declaring that Australia’s man of the moment has the technique to counter the expected spinning pitches in India.

Waugh, who handled spinning decks with aplomb while amassing 8500 ODI runs, said he expected Labuschagne to be used at No. 4. “It’s great to see Marnus Labuschagne picked in the one-day squad, actually. His form at the domestic level has been very good. I think he averages in the high 30s with a strike rate of around 90 — he can play one-day cricket and he is in form,” Waugh was quoted as saying by Sydney Morning Herald.

“He is probably the No.1 batsman in world cricket, albeit in the Test format, but I think he can carry that on into the white-ball format as well.”