Steven Smith in Pune yesterday

Pune: It's not often that the Australian cricket team begins a Test series as second favourites. It's even rarer for an Australian captain to admit it on the eve of a Test series. But when a side that has lost its last nine Tests in Asia takes on a side that is unbeaten at home for 13 Tests this season, it only makes sense that Australian skipper Steve Smith admits his boys are underdogs against India in the four-match Test series that begins at the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium Stadium here today.