Although Steve Smith simulated Ravichandran Ashwin’s doppelganger Mahesh Pithiya for a week, he is not overanalyzing the impact of the India spinner.
Steve Smith, the vice-captain of Australia, may have practiced against Mahesh Pithiya, Ravichandran Ashwin’s clone, for a week.
But he doesn’t overthink the impact that the star India spinner will have in the Border Gavaskar Trophy beginning on Thursday.
Indian net bowlers are assisting the visitors in their preparation for the four-match series, and Australian batters have been concentrating on dealing with the spin threat. Is Australia overanalyzing Ashwin?
We’ve played a lot of off-spinners, and Mahesh is one of them. He bowls in a manner that is comparable to Ashwin’s. We aren’t overanalyzing anything.
During a press conference, Smith stated to reporters, “We have the tools in our kit bag to counter that Ash is a quality bowler.”
He has looked at the pitch, and from a good distance away, the far spot looks pretty dry. Particularly dry at one end I think the left-arm spinner trying to hit our lefties will need to spin it, especially.
“There’s a section there that’s quite dry,” he went on to say. But Smith also said that he won’t overread the track. Other than that, I don’t really get a good sense of it.
There won’t be a lot of bounce, in my opinion, on the wicket; As the game progresses, there may be some up-and-down movement, which I anticipate will be quite challenging for the seamers.
The breaks appeared to be exceptionally free. I’m not entirely sure; we’ll see. Smith seemed happy about the preparations.
Both in Bangalore and now here, we had a few productive sessions. The boys are growing up well. Smith said, “I imagine it will be a little skiddy and slow, but I’m not really sure.”
Cameron Green is ineligible to play, he did make it plain. He said that it is quite improbable that he will play in the opening Test because he hasn’t even faced fast bowlers.
The natural length of Scott Boland, he added, would be great on the Indian surfaces. “While Hazlewood’s injury is a big setback for us, Boland did a wonderful job, and Lance Morris is a great bowler.
This pitch will be effective given his natural height. Smith observed that Lance “certainly has a pace in the air.”