Matthew Wade learned to expect the unexpected during his first Test tour of India in 2013.
"Stuff's going to happen in this country," Wade quipped on Thursday in Mumbai.
Wade will hope not nearly as much stuff as four years ago, when four players were suspended amid 'homeworkgate' and a fractured group capitulated to a 4-0 series loss.
It was also a tough tour for the wicketkeeper.
He played the second Test with a fractured cheekbone then missed the third Test, having hurt his ankle playing basketball.
Wade was dropped for the ensuing Ashes series and didn't return to the Test side until three months ago.
The 29-year-old knows his oft-critiqued glove work will be put to the ultimate test against India in the four-Test series that starts on Thursday in Pune.
"It's definitely tougher (keeping) in India. There's balls that are going to hit the rough and go down; there's one that's going to go over the top of your head," Wade said.
"It's about being really clear in your mind ... if the ball hits the rough, you've just got to react.
"The ball that turns and bounces, you'll react (and take the edge) if your technique's good.
"It's about trying to hone my techniques in the next week or two. Then, when you do get one that spits out of the rough, it's just trusting your technique."
Wade added he enjoyed keeping in conditions so foreign to home.
"The ball beats the bat a lot more ... you are obviously in the game a lot more so it's a lot better to get some rhythm," he said.
Captain Steve Smith is fully expected to use Nathan Lyon and Steve O'Keefe in tandem for much of the series, while Glenn Maxwell, Mitchell Swepson and Ashton Agar could also force their way into the XI during the next six weeks.
"Swepson is probably the only one I haven't kept to over the past four or five years but I've played Australia A with all the other guys," he said.
"I'll get some work in with those guys over the next three or four days."
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