Australia's batting mainstay Steve Smith has dared India’s pace attack to bowl short saying that this will work in their favour. (More Cricket News)
As the two nations line-up their best cricketers for the bilateral series, the much-anticipated contest is between Australian pacer led by Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood vs India’s pace battery comprising Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami and Ishant Sharma, provided he recovers from his injuries. India have also drafted in Umesh Yadav and Nitin Saini into the side.
Steve Smith recently was leading Rajasthan Royals in the just concluded IPL and has been in friendly terms with almost all the Indian players. But all this will change when Indian take on Australia.
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In the last series played in Australia, New Zealand’s Neil Wagner managed to get under Aussie skins bowling short. He particularly targeted Steve Smith and managed to stop the flow of runs.
“It's no dramas for me. I just play the game and sum up the conditions, how they're trying to get me out and being able to counter that," Smith told News Corp. "I mean, a few different oppositions have tried it and they've certainly found it more difficult to [execute it] the way Wagner did. He's got an amazing skill set where his speeds go up and down…everything is between your ribs and your head.
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Steve Smith missed the last series between the two sides due to him serving ban from cricket after the ball-tampering scandal in Newlands. India went on to win the historic series under captain Virat Kohli.
“If teams are trying to get me out like that it's probably a big benefit for the team because it takes a lot out of people's bodies if you continually bowl short. I've faced a lot of short bowling in my life and I haven't had too many stresses with it. I suppose we'll just wait and see,” Smith added.
