IND vs AUS: Nothing’s impossible!

Australia’s Steve Smith at a training session in Indore yesterday. Pic/PTI

It may be a blessing in disguise for Australia that Steve Smith returns as captain in the third Test against India, replacing a struggling Pat Cummins who has returned home to be with his seriously ill mother.

His leadership may pep up the Aussie spirits after being two-down in the series as he has a vast amount of experience playing in India and understands the conditions far better than most players in the squad. Also, Australia have won both matches in which Smith has stood in for Cummins - one against England in December 2021 and the other against West Indies in December last year.

India captain unfazed

But the Indian captain Rohit Sharma was far from perturbed by Smith taking over the leadership. "We have many things on our hands to deal with and we concentrate on our issues, how we have to go about [things] in the Test match. Our plans do not change with Smith taking over as captain. We have to look at our strengths rather than be worried about who is the captain of the rival team," the Indian captain said.

Apart from his captaincy, Smith is also a batsman of high calibre who can inspire the beleaguered batsmen in his side by example. At the pre-match media interaction, Smith looked confident enough and seemed very clear about how to go about this game.

Whether his taking over the reigns will change the fortunes of the team will be seen over the next few days at the Holkar Stadium here on a pitch similar to the one they encountered in the first two games in Nagpur and Delhi.

Also read: Rohit breaks silence on Rahul's lean patch, says his removal as vice-captain doesn't indicate anything

Smith had led in three Test matches against India in Australia in 2014, winning one and drawing the other two. He also captained the side in the 2016-17 series in India which Australia lost 1-2. At least he had the satisfaction of leading the team to a huge victory in the opening game in Pune before India turned things around. Smith had a fairly decent record as Test captain till his reign was tragically cut short by that unsavory ball-tampering incident after which he was barred from captaincy for two years. Till then he had notched up victories in 18 out of the 34 matches, losing 10, and drawing the remaining six.

Excited and confident

A confident Smith said: "I'm excited about leading this week in Pat's absence. I know these conditions well. It's kind of like my second home playing over here, I've played a lot in India. I understand the intricacies of the game and what the wickets are likely to do. I'm looking forward to it."

Two things that Smith aims to do. Firstly, use more pace-bowing options against the lower-order with the availability of Mitchell Starc and Cameron Green against batters like Axar Patel, Ravindra Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin who have been a thorn in the first two games.

Secondly, Smith said it was important the Australians didn't get caught up in the momentum the Indian side could create at home, particularly when their spinners start taking wickets and the crowd becomes frenzied. "We've got to slow things down," he said. "But it's not easy. That's the way they go. They know when they are on top of you. They'll try and rush you and play on their terms. For us, when we're under pressure, it's about slowing it down as much as we can; maybe making them wait a little bit, walk away and regain your thoughts rather than just coming back and back."

Surely, the accidental return of Smith as captain has made things quite interesting and how successful he will be in turning things around will be seen over the next few days.