Melbourne [Australia], November 17 : Australian batter Steve Smith opened up on his battles with Indian ace spinner Ravichandran Ashwin over the years and revealed how he would face him during the upcoming Border-Gavaskar Trophy against India at home.
With the ICC World Test Championship (WTC) final chances of both sides at stake, both teams will be starting with the first Test at Perth from November 22 onwards. For Australia, it would be important that their most premier batter Smith is in his best form and his battles with spinner Ashwin would surely be interesting. With Ashwin and Smith both having suffered form dips as of late, the imminent clash between both becomes even more interesting.
Speaking on Sydney Morning Herald, Smith said that he and Ashwin have had great battles over the years.
"When you have five matches, if someone gets on top of another player, they could have 10 innings against them. So you are facing those mental challenges each game, and if it goes one way early, they will feel under pressure against that player. There is nowhere to hide in five games like there are in a two-game series. Ashwin and I have had some good battles over the years," he said.
Smith has a career average of 54.2 against Ashwin, being dismissed by him eight times. During the last BGT in India, he could score only 22 runs off him and was dismissed twice. In Australia, where Ashwin has a mediocre average of around 42 as compared to his excellent average of around 21 at home, Smith thrives against Ashwin, averaging 80.3 despite being dismissed thrice and scoring just 64 runs against him in the 2020-21 BGT series at home. During the 2017 series in India, Smith scored 132 off 215 balls against Ashwin and only gave him his wicket twice.
Reminiscing on his dismissals in the 2020-21 series, Smith said that he would now be looking to be proactive against Ashwin and not let him settle.
"Ashwin nicked me off in the first innings in Adelaide and then got me at leg slip at the MCG on a tacky wicket. I do not like getting out to off-spin in Australia. I feel as though it should be, particularly for a right-handed batter, relatively easy to face. But he is also a very good bowler and he came in with some decent plans," said Smith.
"There were a couple of occasions where he got on top of me, then I got on top of him at the SCG when I was a bit more proactive [Smith made 131 and 81]. So that is key for me. Just be proactive against him and not let him settle and bowl the way he wants to," he added.
Now playing at number four after an underwhelming stint as an opener, Smith said that starting the home summer well will give him confidence and he looks on to play the game ball-by-ball and keep things simple.
"It always makes your summer better when you start well. It gives you a lot of confidence. It would be nice to be able to hit the ground running with some runs in the first game and help the team win," said Smith.
"It is about not overthinking things. It is playing each ball as it comes and keeping it simple. When I am playing my best, I am not overthinking and I am just playing what is in front of me. It is going to be a good battle," he concluded.
Smith is the highest run-scorer for Australia among active players in BGT, scoring 1,887 runs in 18 matches, averaging 65.06 with eight centuries and five fifties. He is the ninth-highest run-getter in series history.
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 climax to a highly anticipated series.
India's squad for Border-Gavaskar Series: 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.
Australia squad for the first Test: 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.