Kuldeep is a good young talent, he can be difficult to pick at times: Steve Smith

The Australian cricket team is putting all their time to good use by sweating it out in the nets, ahead of the 1st ODI against India, starting on 17th September at Chepauk Stadium in Chennai. The visitors have found a way to counter the Indian chinaman Kuldeep Yadav. They have called in local left-arm wrist spinner KK Jiyas to help prepare for Kuldeep’s skills during net practice in Chennai.

Australia’s spin consultant Sridharan Sriram, a former Indian cricketer, has convinced the Delhi Daredevils’ player Jigyas to help them iron out the kinks. Kuldeep made an instant impression after bagging four wickets in the Dharamshala Test against Australia, earlier this year.

Smith will look to take on Kuldeep

Smith feels that Kuldeep will get a look in for the limited overs games. “They’re different so it’s good to be able to get someone who bowls a bit of that,” Smith told reporters on the eve of the game. “He is a good young talent and can be difficult to pick at times. He’s someone who you have to watch really closely. Hopefully, we can put him under pressure early in his spell and try and take him for as many as we can,” Smith added.

Spin will play a big part: Smith

Smith and co are coming from a hard-fought tour of Bangladesh, where spinners dominated the series throughout. Smith feels that the onus will be on the top-order to score runs, as the series is expected to be a run-scoring one. .”Spin has always played a pretty big part in ODIs particularly in these conditions. I’d say it’ll play a reasonable part throughout this series too,” he said.

“We saw that the last time we came here in 2013 it was a run-fest where 350 was around par. If the wickets are the same, you need someone in the top four to make a really big score.” Smith added.