Virat Kohli misses out from Steve Smith's dream team

Australian captain Steve Smith has picked Sachin Tendulkar and Harbhajan Singh as the two Indian cricketers who will be a part of his dream team. When asked about the Indian picks for his dream team, Smith named the two former cricketers but not from the current players, MS Dhoni and Virat Kohli with and against whom he played.

Ahead of the 2nd ODI to be played at the Kolkata’s Eden Gardens, the Aussies opened up about his picks and his opinion on the Indian skipper Kohli. This ODI will be Steven Smith’s 100th in his ODI career at the venue where Aussie won their first ever World Cup in 1987. He will be the 27th player from his country to appear in 100 ODI games.

“I would have Sachin Tendulkar and Harbhajan Singh in my team,” Smith said on Wednesday. “I think Virat is a terrific player and captain. What he has done with the Indian team is been exceptional. Personally I don’t like battles with different players if that makes sense. Since Virat has come the fitness of the team has improved a lot,” Smith said about Kohli.

“I have never played an international match here. I assume the crowd will be pretty loud and packed. I am looking forward to playing here. I have watched a lot of games in the past being played here,” he added talking about the Eden Gardens.

It was a strong stand from the playing group: Smith

Reflecting on the recent pay dispute between the Australia Cricketers Association (ACA) and Cricket Australia (CA), Smith expressed his happiness on how ACA stood up for the players’ group who possessed a strong stand against CA for bringing changes in the MoU. After three months of negotiations, the pay dispute finally came to an end before their Test tour to Bangladesh. However, the issue between the both parties forced the Australia ‘A’ side opt-out from touring South Africa.

“We go through an MoU every five years and the players were very strong on keeping our revenue sharing model. We didn’t want to lose that and if you give it up now in five years you are not going to get it back,” the Australian captain said.

“It was a strong stand from the playing group and we were fortunate the ACA negotiated on behalf of the players’ group. They did a terrific job. It was nice it was sorted out and we could go to Bangladesh and be here as well. You never want to miss tours. The Australia A guys missed a tour to South Africa and put the best foot forward.” Smith added.