Indian captain Virat Kohli and his Australian counterpart Steve Smith are two of the best batsmen in world cricket, across all three formats of the game. Both of them are top quality batsmen and they have been scoring runs consistently for their teams.
Ahead of the first ODI of the upcoming 5-match ODI series between India and Australia, Steve Smith was asked to say a few words on Virat Kohli’s phenomenal batting record in ODI cricket but he ducked the question and said he is not worries about personal achievements and his only goal is to try and win a series.
“I’m not sure. I think India play a lot more ODI cricket than we do. I’m not sure how many games Virat has played. Both Virat and Joe Root are very good players. I am not worried about personal accolades or anything like that. I am here to try and win a series,” said Smith at a press conference in Chennai ahead of Sunday’s first ODI.
Talking about India’s solid batting order, Smith said that India’s has a lot of quality in their top 7 and they all are capable of scoring big runs.
“The Indian team has a very good top seven and all guys are capable of scoring big runs. Our bowlers have to be on the top of their game to keep them quiet this series,” Smith said.
Smith also said that Australia have 30 ODIs before the 2019 ICC Cricket World Cup and they want to try and find out the right combination.
“We had a chat about it the other day. We have about 30 ODI games before the World Cup. For us it is about trying to find the right group of players to fill all slots,” he said.
“Hopefully this group can go a long way into filling those spots and play some really good cricket in the next five here and the one-dayers to the World Cup.
“As a team we want to win major tournaments and we are always looking ahead to ensure we are in the best possible position to do so. It is another step towards that,” he said.
Talking about the playing XI for the first ODI, Smith that it will depend on the condition of the pitch.
“There is no grass on it at the moment. It’s difficult to say how it is going to play. It is soft and pretty warm outside. It’s going to harden up pretty quickly. We will look at it tomorrow and make another assessment quickly,” he said.
