Sydney: Star Australia batsman Steve Smith has said Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli’s absence will leave a ‘big hole’ in the Indian team. However, Steve Smith has asked his teammates not to be complacent. This is because India have a lot of talented players who can put their hands up in pressure situations.
Rohit is nursing a hamstring injury and is out of white ball series. He is still doubtful starter for Test matches. Skipper Kohli will be on paternity leave after the first Day/Night Test in Adelaide.
“Look, Rohit is obviously a tremendous white-ball player, he has proven that at the top of the order. So his absence obviously leaves a bit of hole,” Smith said. “But I guess the beauty with the Indian team is there are so many batters coming through, that are of high quality,” he added.
Smith spoke about Mayank Agarwal and KL Rahul, who were on fire during the IPL. “You can look at someone like Mayank (Agarwal) in the IPL, just smashed, KL Rahul in the top order as well. There are plenty of options there for them. They no doubt will have a hole, but quality players are there to back up,” Smith explained.
He feels that it’s the same for Kohli in Test matches. “The same goes for Virat and the Test squad. You know there are a number of players who can come in and do a good job,” Smith asserted. “Virat is of obviously of high quality. We know how good he has been in all forms for a long period of times. So it is certainly going to leave a hole. However, I still do believe that they (India) have got some quality batters waiting in the wings to fill that void,” Smith added.
During the last India Test series in Australia, Smith was banned. So he missed out on challenging one of his favourite opposition. Will it make him hungrier?
“I don’t know if it makes me hungrier. I am always pretty hungry to go out and perform and do well. I guess it was tough watching from the sidelines and particularly with the team not doing as well,” he said.
Sledging according to Smith is over-rated in India versus Australia contests.
“People talk so much about sledging and stuff but really there is very little that happens in our days. I think that’s probably a lot to do with things like IPL,” he pointed out. “IPL brings players from all around the world together, so for instance if you get stuck in to someone one day, you might be playing with them a few weeks or few months later. And then, it’s a bit awaked sort of conversation. So honestly, sledging does not happen too much in our days,” Smith informed.
