Sydney: Heading into the T20 World Cup, a “terrific” Indian team is full of serious match winners, said veteran Aussie batter Steve Smith implying that Virat Kohli’s side will be one of the favorites to win the cup.
In a warm-up game, India thrashed Australia by eight wickets, with Rohit Sharma (60), K L Rahul (39) and Suryakumar Yadav (38) all scoring runs. Kohli did not lead the side, but he did come out to bowl as India struggled to find a sixth bowling option.
“They’re a terrific side, they have got all bases covered and some serious match-winners in there,” Smith was quoted as saying by Sydney Morning Herald. “They’ve obviously been playing in these conditions during the last couple of months with the IPL so they’ll be used to that,” he added.
Smith scored 57 from 48 balls in the game, his first 50-run innings since a match-winning 86 for NSW against Queensland in March. “It was nice to spend a bit of time in the middle again. It’s never easy when you’re three down.
“You have to rebuild for a period there and I thought we did that pretty well. The partnerships with Stoin (Marcus Stoinis) and Maxi (Glenn Maxwell) were obviously important.” Smith, who had given the tours of the West Indies and Bangladesh due to an elbow injury, said he is feeling “good and ready to go now”.
He featured in two games for the Delhi Capitals in the second leg of the recently concluded IPL. “I haven’t obviously played too many games with the IPL but I’ve spent a lot of time in the nets and getting used to the conditions, which has been nice,” he said.
