New Delhi: Prolific Australian batsman Steve Smith on Thursday said that the Indian bowling attack may not be their strongest ever without Ishant Sharma but he will still have to be ‘watchful’ against Jasprit Bumrah whom most of the players in the team will face for the first time in Test cricket in the upcoming four-match series.
The Indian pace attack is likely to present a stiff challenge to the Aussies as only two of the nine batsmen in the current Test Australian squad — Tim Paine and Travis Head — have had the experience of playing both Bumrah and Mohammed Shami in a Test match.
“I don’t know if I will do anything specific but yeah (this will be the) first time I will have face him in long form cricket. But I think his skill sets won’t probably change too much. We know how he bowls. He has got a good pace. He has got that awkward action, very different to lot of people. You got to be pretty watchful all the time and he is a quality bowler,” said Smith on being asked if he has planned anything specific against Bumrah for the Test series.
“I am excited at coming up against him in this series. You like coming up against the best and he is certainly up there with them,” he added.
The 32-year-old further said that Australia will have to be at their best when facing the experienced Indian bowling attack despite the fact that the visitors would be missing Ishant and their third seamer could be a weak link. He, however, exuded confidence that the Aussies will beat India this summer.
