Perth [Australia], November 21 : Ahead of Border-Gavaskar Trophy's first match against India at Perth, Australia skipper Pat Cummins said that Steve Smith is looking really good in the nets.
The first Test between India and Australia will start on Friday at Perth's Optus Stadium. Both sides, placed at the top two spots of the ICC World Test Championship points tally will be aiming to make their chances for the final stronger. While India seeks to bounce back after a setback against New Zealand at home, Australia would be aiming to avoid a hat-trick of series losses to India at home.
"Smitty, I know every summer, the conversations around his hands and whether he's found them or not. I can report they've made their way to Perth, his hands, which is always good. But I bowled a bit at him over the last few weeks. He looked really good in the ODIs. We had a couple of good centre wickets out at New South Wales last week. He seems really settled," Cummins said in the pre-match press conference.
Smith needs just 315 runs to become the fourth Australian batter after Ricky Ponting (13378), Allan Border (11174), and Steve Waugh (10927) to reach the landmark of 10,000 Test runs. Currently, he has scored 9.685 runs in 109 Tests, averaging 56.97, with 32 centuries and 41 fifties. His best score is 239.
He also needs 559 runs and a bumper Border-Gavaskar Trophy series in order to become the sixth Australian to touch the 17,000-run mark in international cricket. Currently, he has scored 16,441 runs at an average of 47.79, with 44 centuries and 80 fifties. His best score is 239.
Smith is just 507 runs away from becoming Australia's leading Test run-getter against India. With 2,555 runs in 29 matches, with eight tons and 12 fifties, Ponting holds this record. Smith is currently at 2,042 runs in 19 Tests, averaging 65.87, with nine centuries and five fifties. His best score is 192.
Further, the 31-year-old spoke about the national team's middle order and called it a "pretty scary" one.
"It is a pretty scary five, six, seven, I think (Head, Marsh and Carey). If they come in and the bowlers already have plenty of overs into them, that's a pretty scary, you know, proposition.
And similarly, we've seen some counter punches where we've been, you know, two or three down, four down for not many, and Marshie's pulled out a hundred or Heady's pulled out a hundred and changed the dynamics pretty quickly. I really like kind of how that middle order has been structured the last couple of years," the right-arm seamer added.
After the series opener in Perth on November 22, the second Test, featuring the day-night format, will take place under lights at Adelaide Oval from December 6 to 10.
Fans will then turn their attention to The Gabba in Brisbane for the third Test from December 14 to 18.
The traditional Boxing Day Test, scheduled from December 26 to 30 at Melbourne's iconic Melbourne Cricket Ground, will mark the series' penultimate stage.
The fifth and final Test will be held at the Sydney Cricket Ground from January 3 to 7, promising an exciting claimax to a highly anticipated series.
Squads:
Australia: Pat Cummins (c), Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Mitch Marsh, Nathan McSweeney, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc.
India: Rohit Sharma (c), Jasprit Bumrah (vc), Ravichandran Ashwin, Mohammad Shami, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Shubman Gill, Ravindra Jadeja, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Dhruv Jurel (wk), Sarfaraz Khan, Virat Kohli, Prasidh Krishna, Rishabh Pant (wk), KL Rahul, Harshit Rana, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Mohammed Siraj, Washington Sundar.