Sreesanth must back up his talk - McGrath

Glenn McGrath believes India's upcoming tour of Australia will be a major test for Sreesanth, who he says needs to start backing up his aggression with more consistent bowling. Sreesanth took nine wickets from four ODI outings in this month's home series but he was expensive and his efforts were overshadowed by his frequent clashes with members of the Australia team.

"I've had a chat to him a few times and it doesn't seem to be in his character," McGrath told the Australian. "He's trying to be aggressive and it's a little bit unusual. You want your fast bowler to be aggressive.

"Giving blokes send-offs or sledging when you talk back I don't agree with but that's up to the officials to sort out. At the end of the day you've got to be able to back it up. You can talk the talk but if you can't go out there and perform then you're not going to be around for very long."

Sreesanth was rested for three of the recent ODIs but he will be a key factor in India's Test and one-day tour of Australia starting in December. Stuart MacGill said Sreesanth and his team-mates would find it difficult to maintain their fiery approach in Australia.

"It's always easier when you've got a lot of support at home to ride your emotions," MacGill said in the Sydney Morning Herald. "They only need to look around and know they've got a billion countrymen supporting them. I think you'll find it doesn't work for them if they're pretending."

Ricky Ponting said a seven-match ODI series was a completely different scenario to four Tests and the tri-series, which would test India's resolve. "They made it pretty clear right at the start of the series they were going to fight fire with fire," Ponting said on returning home from the trip.

"We know that's generally not the way they play their cricket. We've got a lot of cricket against them in the next few months, so it will be interesting to see just how long that aggressive-natured cricket does last from them."