Sydney, Jan 5 (IANS) India’s batting great Rahul Dravid said he expected his team to perform better in Australia than what it did on the disastrous summer tour of England.

India are on the brink of going down 0-2 in the four-match Test series as they need to make another 354 runs just to make Australia bat again in the second Test at the Sydney Cricket Ground. India ended day three at 114 for two after Australia posted a mammoth 659 for four in their first innings. The visitors made 191 in their first innings on the opening day.

Dravid said he was disappointed with how the team performed here.

Dravid said he expected India to do better in Australia than they did in England, but both their batting and bowling have been disappointing.

“It is disappointing,” Dravid told reporters on India’s five-Test losing streak overseas.

“Obviously we didn’t play well in England. We thought we would play much better here. Things haven’t worked here, too, but still time to go. It is disappointing and we are not happy about it.”

Dravid put the main blame for their dismal performance on the batting failure. He said it was important to bat for at least 100 overs in an innings, something India have not done in their last three innings.

“The key for us is to keep them on the field for a long period of time. If we can keep their bowlers and fielders on the field for more than 100 overs, then we can put them under pressure and see some of their bowlers wilt. Sadly, in the three innings we have played so far, we haven’t been able to do that. They kept us on the field for a long time today. We need to try and do that.”

Dravid also expected the bowlers to rise to the occasion, considering they came to Australia with a better attack than what they had in England.

“In England, we did not always have our best attack owing to injuries and various other reasons,” he said.

“Here we had the best bowling attack we can possibly hope for and we are obviously disappointed. Once partnerships develop, and runs flow, we need to pull it back. But, that’s not easy. Even if we don’t take wickets, we have to stop the run flow.”

Dravid has been bowled thrice in four innings of the series, including the second innings at the SCG where he was cleaned up by Ben Hilfenhaus on 29.

“To be fair, there have been a couple of pretty good balls,” he said of his dismissals. “It is not like I have got out, you know, inner-edging. A couple of good balls, a couple of things I could have done differently,” he said.

“I feel I have been batting well, but I am just getting out. Hopefully in the next couple of Tests I will be able to convert one of these starts. I got 60 in the first game, I thought I was batting well in the second innings, till I got a pretty good one.”

He said India can’t think about saving the match at this point.

“I don’t think we can think about saving this game right now. We need to go out there and show some fight. And bat as long as we can. Who knows what can happen? We have got quality batsmen who can bat long periods. It is hard to think about two days from now right away. I am sure the guys will go out and fight and do the best they can. And we will take from there.”