‘They will come at us hard’ – Steve Smith wary of Team India ahead of Melbourne Test

Steve Smith, the Australian batsman, reckons that India won’t die wondering going into the second Test, starting December 26 at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. In the first Day-Night Test, the visitors lost by eight wickets after being restricted for a mere 36 runs in the second innings. The poor performance at the Adelaide Oval earned them a lot of flak and criticism.

Smith, who couldn’t score big in the first innings of the pink-ball Test, feels that India need to keep aside the disappointment of the opening Test and take the field at the MCG with a new zeal. Smith feels that India won’t leave any stone unturned in making a comeback.

India have got some quality players, says Steve Smith

“You have to just forget about the low scores. Sometimes they happen in the game, teams can get on a roll and there can be some pretty good bowling. That happens,” Smith was quoted as saying during an interaction on SEN Mornings.

“How do I expect India to bounce back? I’m sure they’ve looked at the footage and seen how they can improve. They’ll come out hard, they’ve got some quality players so I guess time will tell, we’ll wait and see,” he stated.

Smith also brushed off Ian Chappell’s comments of not bowling bouncers to tail-end batsmen, who are not capable of handling short-pitched bowling. As per Smith, bowling short is part and parcel of the game and it shouldn’t be outlawed.

“It seems like Ian Chappell has an outlandish statement after every match at the moment. From my point of view, short balls are part of the game,” he quipped.

“From my point of view, short balls are part of the game. We’ve seen over the years there’s been some really good battles and I don’t think it should be outlawed at all,” Smith added.

Smith is currently ICC’s number-one ranked Test batsman. But he got out to Ravi Ashwin in the first innings of the Adelaide Test. Going into the MCG Test, India have reasons to worry about as they won’t be having the services of Virat Kohli and Mohammed Shami. India are expected to make quite a few other changes as well.