Home comforts have been hard to find for Australia during the World Twenty20 but the Mohali pitch has brought a smile to Steve Smith's face.
The tournament has largely been played on raging turners, with many venues producing incredibly different decks to what Smith and his teammates became accustomed to during the Indian Premier League.
The expectation was another spin-friendly surface would be cooked up in Chandigarh - in the north of India - where Australia face Pakistan and India in their final two pool games this week.
Smith struggled to hide his glee after seeing the deck that had been produced.
"It's probably as close to Australian conditions as you get," the skipper said.
"Looks like it will play pretty similarly to the game (between Pakistan and New Zealand).
"When we've played on this ground in IPL it's usually a pretty good wicket and goes through, so it looked like it did that (on Tuesday).
"So it'd be nice if it did it again ... it's just good when each ground keeps its characteristics."
Glenn Maxwell, who calls Mohali - India's first planned city - home during the Indian Premier League, predicted pace rather than spin would dominate the clash between Australia and Pakistan that starts at 8.30pm AEDT on Friday.
"Having played a fair bit at Mohali, I know they don't generally spin that much here," Maxwell told AAP.
"Even the Test wicket we played on here a few years ago, it didn't spin a whole lot.
"It's not very prone to big turn .. there's a bit more grass on it and I don't think the soil is the same as what it is in Nagpur."
Nagpur hosted the World T20 opener and set the tone for the tournament.
The ball turned more sharply in that clash between New Zealand and India than many members of Australia's squad could ever recall.
Maxwell was staggered to see some of the world's best players of spin struggle with the turn, admitting it played on his mind.
"Mental preparation has probably been the hardest thing; you're watching these teams play at these venues," the offspinner said.
"You see Mitchell Santner spinning the ball a metre. When we played him in a recent ODI series he barely spun one during the whole series.
"You have to adapt and the strongest survive. Hopefully we're one of those teams."
Wicketkeeper Peter Nevill is one member of the 15-man squad thrilled with the amount of turn in the World T20 pitches.
"It's a lot more exciting ... it's a lot of fun doing wicketkeeping practice when the ball is ripping past the bat," Nevill said.
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