Australia’s talisman batter Steve Smith has heaped praise on the Indian team and reckons the Virat Kohli-led team will be one of the favorites in the T20 World Cup. Smith added that India is a terrific team and they have got all bases covered as they are ticking the right boxes.
India defeated Australia in their second warm-up match convincingly by nine wickets. Australia could only manage 152-5 on the board and the Indian team was able to chase it down within 18 overs. Smith top-scored for his team as he scored 58 runs off 47 balls.
Rohit Sharma, who was captaining the team in place of Virat Kohli, retired out after scoring 60 runs whereas Suryakumar Yadav and Hardik Pandya, added the finishing touches as they scored 38 runs and 14 runs respectively.
On the other hand, Ravichandran Ashwin scalped two wickets in the two overs he bowled. Furthermore, Bhuvneshwar Kumar conceded only 27 runs in his four overs, which was a huge positive for the Indian team.
“They’re a terrific side, they’ve got all bases covered and some serious match-winners,” Smith told reporters after the match. “They’ve all been playing in these conditions the last couple of months with the Indian Premier League (IPL). So they’ll be used to that.”
Meanwhile, Smith was also able to get some game practice under his belt. Smith didn’t get to play a lot of matches in the IPL for Delhi Capitals but he was able to spend some quality time in the nets in the same conditions.
“I feel like I’ve been hitting the ball really well,” he said. “I haven’t played too many games in the IPL but I’ve spent a lot of time in the nets, working on things and getting used to conditions.”
Smith is going to hold the key for Australia in the middle-order as he has got experience under his belt. The linchpin can hold one end up for his team and the other batters can bat around him.
Australia will begin their T20 World Cup campaign against South Africa on Saturday whereas India will face arch-rivals Pakistan on Sunday.
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