Australian stand-in skipper Steve Smith feels that his team rushed in the second innings of the second test in Delhi. Australia had the upper hand at end of the Day 3 when they led India by 63 runs and were bundled out by Indian spinning duo Ravindra Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin and got bowled out for 113 runs.
Steve Smith who will captain Australia in the absence of their regular skipper Pat Cummins will miss out on the third test citing family reasons addressed to the media before the match day. Smith was visibly upset when he was dismissed by Ashwin in the 2nd innings, When he was asked about his dismissal
“I’ve played, what, 95 Test matches (94) and I don’t think there have been too many times I’ve walked off the field and I’ve gone, ‘what the hell am I doing?’” Smith told the reporters
Smith admitted that the Australian team rushed in the second innings and added that it’s not necessary to play high-risk game time and sometimes it is about the ability to grind out and play for sometime
“We probably just rushed things a little bit and it’s something we’ll talk about …when we’ve got them on the ropes, we can slow things down. We don’t have to play at such a high tempo and risky tempo. Because we had them where we wanted them, we had men out and the ability to get off strike. We just rushed it.”
Australia will take on India in the third test in Indore. India will try to take to momentum from the first two tests and try to seal their berth ICC world test championship, while Australia will look to make come back in the series.
India Is Like Second Home For Me – Steve Smith
Steve Smith said that he was excited to lead this Australian Team. The retirement of Michael Clarke following Australia’s 3–2 defeat in the 2015 series saw Smith appointed as the full-time captain of the Australian Test team. Team Australia had high success under his captaincy, but he was removed from captaincy following a sand-paper incident against South Africa. Speaking about his Captaincy in the third test, Smith said
“It normally brings the best out of me, I’m excited about leading this week in Pat’s absence. I know these conditions well. It’s kind of like my second home playing over here, I’ve played a lot in India, and I understand the intricacies of the game and what the wickets are likely to do. I’m looking forward to it.
He was the captain when Australia toured India in 2017 and was the best performer with the bat. Last year, Steve Smith captained Australia in the second test against West Indies, where Australia hammered West Indies by 419 runs