Kohli and Smith remind me of Ganguly and me, claims Steve Waugh

03/07/2017

Steve Waugh has said that the battle between Steve Smith and Virat Kohli reminds him of the days when he and Sourav Ganguly were the opposite captains. Waugh also added that Smith's banter with Kohli in the ongoing second Test appears to have had a negative impact on the Australian captain.

The "talk" between the captains occurred on Sunday morning in Bengaluru during Australia's first innings. Smith batted grittily on a testing pitch before being dismissed for eight runs after playing 52 deliveries.

"I think Virat Kohli here in Bangalore has been a little over the top (with his actions on the field)," Waugh said in a Facebook session, reported cricket.com.au.

"Having said that, I think Steve Smith, it affected his batting in the first innings. It was probably the most unsettled ... I’ve seen him. Maybe they both need to pull it back a bit, but it’s great viewing for the spectators. It reminds me a bit of Sourav (Ganguly) and myself back in our day.

"I just see that as two passionate players really enjoying playing Test cricket for their country. A lot is at stake, they both have aspirations to be the best batsman in the world, they want to be the best captain as possible.

"So there’s always going to be a bit of angst against players at this level. They both represent the attitude of the rest of the team."

Waugh, considered one of the greatest captains, was all praise of the current Aussie skipper, but felt he should have bowled Mitch Marsh on the inconsistent Bengaluru pitch.

"I think he’s done a superb job rotating his bowlers. He may have missed a bit of a trick here in Bangalore by not bowling Mitch Marsh enough," Waugh said.

"The workload on the four frontline bowlers has been quite heavy and at some stage they’re going to tire. Mitch Marsh needs a bit more bowling.

"I think his field placements have been very, very good. The think tank have worked out a plan for each particular batsman, you can the (Australia) players are playing to that really well.

"This Australia team know what they’re doing, they’re well led and Smith is growing in his leadership capabilities."