As Steve Smith prepared to travel to India, he may have wondered about predictions of a 4-0 or 3-0 rout from a few Indian cricketers .
At a press conference here on Wednesday, he shrugged off unkind observations, saying, “Everyone is entitled to his opinion.
“No doubt it’s going to be a difficult series. India has played some very good cricket of late. So we’re under no illusions there.
“There are going to be difficult moments and key moments that we need to identify. Hopefully, we can have the skills and mindsets to counteract them.’’ Excerpts:
Likely team: We’ll wait until the toss. At the moment, the wicket looks incredibly dry for a day before the Test match. So it will depend on what sort of combination we want to go in with.
Starc, the weapon: First of all he can bowl at 150kmph. But with that, you’ve also got to have some skills to take wickets, particularly on slow wickets. He’s a very good reverse bowler and controls the ball well.
That’s a great starting point for a fast bowling spearhead in the sub-continent, where the wickets aren’t quick.
Captaining three spinners: I learnt quite a lot playing in Sri Lanka.
Playing in these conditions, there’s a different tempo, times when you need to attack and times when you need to defend. For me as captain, it’s about identifying these periods quickly and not letting the game get away before you start to defend, or attacking quick enough.
Reverse swing: It is going to be pretty important. Looking at this wicket, it looks like it’s going to be slow and the ball’s probably going to get chewed up pretty quickly. It might be difficult at times for the fast bowlers to get wickets but making the ball lift in the air is certainly going to make it easier for them.
Spin factor: One of the big challenges of playing spin bowling in Asia is the uncertainty of what the ball is going to do off the pitch. In Australia, the bounce and spin is generally pretty consistent. We have to ensure we have a plan to play against them.
