New Indian bowlers are very good: Steve Waugh

Former captain Steve Waugh has said that the new crop of Indian bowlers are very good and are surely going to give a tough time to the Australian team.

Umesh Yadav and Vinay Kumar aren't household names in India yet but they are trying to make themselves well known to Australia's batsmen over the four-Test series starting on Boxing Day with sheer speed and swing.

Yadav (24) has been consistently touching the 150km/h mark, having received his maiden Test call-up during the West Indies series.

Waugh saw Yadav's breakthrough from close quarters and is thoroughly impressed by India's new-look attack, believing they will complement veteran Zaheer Khan and Ishant Sharma. He also praised India's slow bowling options Pragyan Ojha and Ravichandran Ashwin.

"I was in India a couple of weeks ago ... I like the look of their new bowlers," Waugh told the Sydney Morning Herald.

"Yadav is very good. They've got good pace and a good attitude. They're pretty raw, but they're pretty exciting for India. Their two spinners, Ashwin and Ojha, I like them. So, you've got four new bowlers and you put them around Zaheer Khan and Ishant Sharma, they've got a pretty good attack.

"They've got the ability to take 20 wickets out there, which mightn't have been the case in previous tours. They could surprise us, in the same way our bowlers could surprise their batters," Waugh said.