Australia's depth will be tested in David Warner's absence against this good Indian outfit: Steve Smith

After a feisty limited-overs series (3 ODIs and 3 T20Is), India and Australia will lock horns in the four-match Test series starting from December 17 in Adelaide. The visitors are missing some of their key players due to injury and other reasons while even the Tim Paine-led side is grappled with injuries. The aggressive opener David Warner is set to miss the series opener.

Steve Smith, however, is set to play the whole series after missing out last time when India toured Down Under. With Joe Burns also struggling to score runs and Will Pucovski suffering from mild concussion, Australia might have to look for a new set of openers for the first Test. For the same reason, Smith feels the hosts will be tested to their hilt by the touring Indian side.

“I think our depth is obviously going to be tested with Davey out and a few potentially new players coming in. It’ll test us out no doubt against a good Indian outfit,” he said during a virtual media interaction ahead of the series.

I won’t be happy to bat lower than four, says Steve Smith

When asked about his own batting position, Steve Smith cleared that he is ready to bat anywhere in the top four. However, he hinted that he wouldn’t be happy to come out to bat below four. Smith is in great form and batted at three in the ODI series scoring two centuries at an exceptional strike-rate.

“That (batting position) doesn’t bother me too much. I’ve batted a fair bit at No.3. Any lower than 4 I wouldn’t be overly happy. Anywhere up there I’m fine. When you bat at 3 you sometimes in the second ball of the game, that’s the reality of batting there so, someone at 3 could certainly go up the top. Whether that’s spoken about I’m not sure, but whoever bats wherever they’ve just got to do their job and that’s to score runs,” he added.

Steve Smith has a brilliant record against India, especially at home. During the 2014-15 tour, he had smashed four centuries and will be looking to repeat the heroics again.