Steve Smith Confident of Better Performance Against Indian Spinners
Sep 10, 2017 at 7:14 PM
“I think the one-day group has played spin pretty well. Obviously we’re still learning in the Test format, just coming out of a challenging tour of Bangladesh. Guys are learning and trying to improve, and I hope they continue to do so. Obviously the one-day wickets will not present quite as much spin as the Test wickets. But we have to wait and see and adapt to the conditions.
“It’s a completely different format really from Test cricket. Axar Patel has done well from them, [Yuzvendra] Chahal is there in the squad as well and Kuldeep Yadav, he’s a good bowler too. They certainly have some good spinners. We are gonna have to play them well throughout the series,” added Smith.
Steve Smith was in the headlines back in March when Australia toured India to play test series as off field exchanges have born the majority of headlines than the on-field achievements. But he feels that the upcoming series will have minor spice compared to the one earlier this year.
“I think it will be played in good spirit,” Smith replied when asked about the animosity. “It is always a hard fought contest playing against India and we are excited about the challenge of playing here. Looking back at the last one-day tour here (I wasn’t on it in 2013), it was a big run fest. Pretty flat wickets and good totals. We’ll see what we are presented with it but it could be the same again,” he added.
Australia have managed only 3 test wins in the past decade in their visit to Asia but have taken some proper steps to ensure their performance against quality spin bowling enhanced. The appointment of former Indian cricketer Sridharan Sriram as a spin bowling consultant is one of the vital steps for Australia’s improved results over the past 12 months.
“Sri has been really good. He’s got some great knowledge on how to play in these conditions and helps a lot of players, particularly spinners in understanding how to bowl in these conditions, probably more for longer formats than the shorter formats. The wickets generally don’t offer quite as much spin as Test wickets so. He still has a great knowledge of lot of grounds in India, the nature of the wickets. He’s been really good for this team,” said the captain.
Australia will play 5 ODIs and 3 T20Is in India before they head back home and prepare for Ashes series against England that will begin in late November. The series provides the right opportunity for some of the players to play to their potential before the important Ashes starts.