India’s tour of Australia has making of all-time great series, reckons Steve Smith

India’s tour of Australia has making of all-time great series, reckons Steve Smith

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The return of Smith and Warner would make it an interesting series

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With David Warner and himself returning to the side, Steve Smith has reckoned that the 2020-21 Border-Gavaskar Trophy has the ability to become an all-time great series. Alongside that, Smith has also complimented Kohli for doing terrific things for the Indian team since taking over as captain.

Two of the modern-day greats in the longest format of the game, Steve Smith and Virat Kohli will lock horns against each other in the 2020-21 Border Gavaskar Trophy series between India and Australia, which is scheduled to kick off in December. The 2-1 series loss earlier in the 2018/19 series would be on the back of the minds of the Australian camp, but the side is now considerably stronger thanks to the return of David Warner and Steve Smith at the top of the order.

While Smith has a terrific average against the Indians, having scored 1429 runs at an average of 84.05, and Warner, too, has scored over 1000 runs against the subcontinent side, the duo were unavailable for selection last time around due to the one-year-ban for ball tampering. However, with both men now back, Smith has reckoned that the series, later this year, has the making of an all-time great series. Last time around, the Indian bowlers came away from the tour with 48 wickets, their highest ever against Australia away from home. 

“There are other couple of Indian bowlers who could probably just get over here as well. Both sides have some quality spinners as well. This series has the making of an all-time great series and I can’t wait for it,” the Aussie said in Star Sports’ Cricket Connected chat show on Saturday, reported Hindustan Times. 

“I am so excited. It has the potential to be an-all time great series. You see guys like Jasprit Bumrah, who has come on heaps and bounds, he’s an incredible bowler. Mohammed Shami has got better and better. Ishant Sharma has the experience,” he added.

Interestingly, the history between the two batsmen, Kohli and Smith, as revealed by the latter, goes back to 2007, when the duo met for the first time before the U-19 World Cup in an academy in Brisbane. 

“I have known Virat Kohli for a long time. Since 2007, I reckon, when he went up to the academy in Brisbane. I actually wasn’t a part of in-take then, but I was kind of up there, doing bowling and stuff,” Smith said.

A well-documented fact about the Indian skipper is his aggressive self on the field. Recalling a couple of incidents, Smith revealed that he had a couple of run-ins with the 31-year-old during the early days. 

“He was there, we had some nice chats off the field. We had a couple of run-ins in the early days on the field. Those things happen when you are playing for your team and your emotions sometimes go out of control."

“But he’s a terrific guy, he’s done terrific things with India. As an ambassador of the game. He’s getting better and better with each game, which is the scary thing,” the batsman concluded.

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