Tired Bollinger and Hussey join Australia squad

Doug Bollinger insists he and Michael Hussey will be prepared for the first Test against India starting on Friday, despite having only just joined the squad. The pair flew in to Chandigarh on Tuesday, having helped Chennai Super Kings to a Champions League triumph on Sunday in Johannesburg.

Their Australian team-mates have adjusted to the conditions with a warm-up game but Bollinger and Hussey have only two days of net sessions to get themselves up to speed. However, India are in a similar situation, with MS Dhoni, Suresh Raina and M Vijay also having made the last-minute dash to Chandigarh from South Africa.

"We'll be right to go, we've got a good couple of days of training coming up and we'll look after ourselves and we'll be fine," Bollinger told AAP. "We're a little bit tired, it's been a long flight, but we're good and we'll just chill out for a couple of days and make sure we're right to go."

Australia's vice-captain Michael Clarke spoke of players putting their country before other competitions, but said it was a positive that the two men had been playing tough cricket in South Africa. Hussey is a well-travelled cricketer and he believes it is possible for him and Bollinger to be in good shape for the Test.

"It's not ideal, but it's the best we can do, we'll just make sure we're really smart the next couple of days and get ourselves prepared as best we can," Hussey said. "I'm sure we've got good background staff and they'll get us in the best possible shape to get going for Friday.

"We've been playing cricket and training every other day, so it's not like we're coming in underdone or anything like that, we've got plenty of cricket behind us, obviously it's a totally different format but it's a mental adjustment as much as anything. The next couple of days we've got to get the head right and get thinking more Test match cricket."

Bollinger is likely to form part of a three-man pace attack with Mitchell Johnson and Ben Hilfenhaus for the first Test. Hussey will slot back into the No. 5 position he occupied during the Test series against Pakistan in July, when Clarke was promoted to No. 4.