Sydney, Dec 13 (IANS): India's victory in their previous Test series in Australia was more down to the fact that the visitors performed well than Australia's weaknesses, according to spinner Kuldeep Yadav.

Kuldeep, however, acknowledged that India have a difficult task ahead of them this time due to the return of Steve Smith and David Warner and the emergence of Marnus Labuschagne.

"You need to win Test matches to win a series. We won two of them, and could have one the fourth one too had there been no rain. The criticism holds no merit. Whenever you are playing against a team, your own team's performance matters the most," Kuldeep told the website of his Indian Premier League team Kolkata Knight Riders.

"So instead of looking at the other team - who they have in their squad, and who they don't - it makes more sense to talk about your own team. We did well, and hence we won the Test series. If our fast bowling works well and we perform as prolifically with the bat as we did the last time, we will win this time too."

Australia lost the previous Test series 2-1 but since then, they have gone on to retain the Ashes in England and record dominant wins over Sri Lanka, Pakistan and New Zealand at home.

"Yes, their team has now improved with the return of the experienced David Warner, Steve Smith and the likes of Marnus (Labuschagne), who has really done well for them in recent times. But last time too, their team was good but we played really some really good cricket to win. Looking forward to the challenge once again, it's going to be a great contest," said Kuldeep.