'We're showing signs of getting better' – Tim Paine

India, 2-1 up after three Tests, are eyeing their maiden Test series victory in Australia and the hosts will have to bring their A game to the final Test in Sydney to prevent that from happening.

Paine's men have shown signs of improvement, as the captain himself vouches for, but to level the series at the Sydney Cricket Ground, they will need the team, especially the batsmen, to deliver.

Paine pointed out that the Australia batsmen are getting starts but aren't being able to convert. In fact, none of their batsmen have yet brought up a century in this series, whereas India have three to their name.

"We are constantly a work in progress ... as I said before, it is about trying to keep a bit of perspective, a reality about where we are at. I think we are showing signs of getting better," Paine said.

"I think in the last Test, while our batters didn’t set the world on fire, most guys got a start and showed that they can succeed at this level. So in this Test that is going to be a real focus from our batting group.

"We know we are not going to win too many Test matches without scoring hundreds and that’s something that we have spoken about. It is something we are really keen to improve and address," he added.

India are ranked No.1 on the MRF Tyres ICC Test Rankings, and Paine knows that winning against them is no easy task. His goal for Australia is that they improve with every passing game.

"My focus has been on us improving and us playing the best possible cricket we can. We want to win every Test we play. At times it’s not possible. We’re playing the best Test team in the world at the moment who are playing really well," Paine said.

"I haven’t thought too much about losing the series, that’s for sure ... some guys will use different things to motivate them. My motivation is making sure we’re improving, competitive at all times and put up a really good fight against India," he said.

Meanwhile, India's premier spinner Ravichandran Aswhin, who has missed the previous two Tests through injury, remains under an injury cloud. Paine joked that his batsmen would be pleased to know that the ace spinner would probably miss the final Test, but insisted that the other spinners in Ravindra Jadeja and Kuldeep Yadav can't be taken lightly.

"I think some of our batters will be pretty happy to hear that news (of Ashwin probably missing out). But we know they’ve got some other spinners in their squad – Kuldeep Yadav is younger but has got some serious talent and Ravindra Jadeja did the job for them in Melbourne," he said.