India vs Australia 2017: I'm Not Too Concerned About My Differences With Virat: Steve Smith
Updated - 18 May 2019, 03:45 PM
Not very long ago, Australia captain Steve Smith had made it clear that winning a Test series in India was ‘big on my bucket list’ and the preparation for it will start in the upcoming limited-overs series against the Men in Blue. Australia’s next tour of India is still four years away but the team management has already started the preparation and preferring Ashton Agar over Steve O’Keefe during the recently-concluded series in Bangladesh totally proved it.
Earlier this year, the team from Down Under lost the Test series 2-1 after giving the hosts a run for their money and a win in the upcoming ODI series will show that they have really improved in subcontinent. However, their aspirations of winning the series can be dashed by India captain Virat Kohli who is in sizzling form at the moment. The Indian run-machine had a disastrous outing in the Test series against Steve Smith & Co. and will be keen to make amends for it in the upcoming series.
Smith, nevertheless, is well aware of the threat posed by Kohli and is hoping that his team manages to keep his Indian counterpart silent once again.
“I’m not too concerned about my differences with Virat (both personal records and batting styles in ODIs). He has a phenomenal record in ODIs (30 hundreds) and is obviously going to be dangerous. Hopefully we can keep him quiet as much as possible. If we do that, then hopefully that can help us go a long way in having some success on this tour,” said Smith.
Kohli will be brimming with confidence after a brilliant series in Sri Lanka where he scored two centuries and a half-century in five games, finishing the series as the top-scorer as India whitewashed the Islanders.
“We have been following the India-Lanka series in bits and pieces. India are playing some really good cricket and are an excellent ODI side. It’s a good challenge for us as it’s always tough playing India in India,” he added.
The five-match series will start on September 17 in Chennai.
