While record-breaking off-spinner Nathan Lyon and left-armer Steve O'Keefe are expected to board the plane for the sub-continent, the prospect of Australia also taking a leg-spinner in their party has been raised. Legendary leggie Shane Warne – a close friend of Pietersen – is a fan of young leg-spinner Mitchell Swepson, having advocated for the Queenslander to be drafted into Australia's squad for the Sydney Test against Pakistan this month.

While Swepson has a solid first-class bowling average of just under 33 from 14 matches, Zampa has taken just 62 wickets at an average of more than 50 in 25 first-class appearances. But Pietersen said that shouldn't deter Australian selectors from choosing his Melbourne Stars teammate as they seek to claim a first Test victory in India in 13 years and retain the Border-Gavaskar trophy.

"For me it's a no-brainer with Zampa just because of his mindset, the way that he's a competitor and the way that he'd never ever run away from competition or responsibility," Pietersen said on Wednesday at Werribee open range zoo, where he was raising awareness of the rhino crisis in his native Africa.

"I think if well-managed he can do a really good job for Australia," he said.

Zampa has established himself as Australia's first-choice white-ball tweaker, having played 19 one-day internationals and eight Twenty20 internationals since making his international debut early last year. His successful first year in the national side was underscored when he ended 2016 having taken more ODI wickets than any bowler in the world.

But his Sheffield Shield record remains unflattering. In three appearances for South Australia this season he took nine wickets at an average of just below 48. Pietersen urged selectors to broaden their considerations beyond mere numbers when deciding if Zampa should head to India for the series that begins in Pune on February 23. "There's a lot of players out there who get picked on statistics and there's a lot of players who get picked on mindset," Pietersen said.

"I've seen Zampa's mindset, I've also seen the way that he bowls in tight games when we've asked him to get a job done. We asked him to get a job done the other night at Etihad Stadium [for the Stars] and he bounced back and did it."

Zampa is no stranger to Asian conditions, having played for Australia in one-ball cricket in India and Sri Lanka last year, as well as in the Indian Premier League.

In any event Pietersen doesn't expect Australia to find much success in India, where they have won just one series since Bill Lawry's side prevailed in 1969. Pietersen pointed to his former side England's 4-0 thumping late last year as evidence of the enormous task facing Australia.

"I'm not saying by any stretch of the imagination that Australia are going to win in India, because I don't think they will win in India. I've just seen what happened to England in India, and they had [Adil] Rashid, who's a pretty good leg-spinner, they had [Moeen] Ali, who's a pretty good off-spinner, it just depends on the pace the spinners bowl in India."