WTC Final: Steve Smith Warns India, Says ‘Oval Will Be Very Close To Australian Conditions’
New Delhi: Steve Smith will be leading Australia in the upcoming three-match ODI series against India as their regular Pat Cummins remains at home following the demise of his mother.
Cummins left the India tour after the second Test in Delhi to be at the side of his mother Maria, who died from breast cancer last week while the final match in Ahmedabad was being played. Smith led the Australian side in the last two Tests in his absence.
Australia’s stand-in skipper Smith has also passed a sound warning to the Indian side that would be facing them once again in the finals of the World Test Championship in a couple of months.
“Yeah, the guys are really pumped by it. Really excited. You know, we saw, India, I think when they came back out on the field just after New Zealand had won in what looked like was a pretty cool Test match there as well, you know, shaking their hands and what have you. So it’s going to be great coming up against India in the final,” Smith said in the press conference.
He said “You know, the Oval, the wicket there can take some spin at times, particularly as the game wears on. So could be interesting in terms of what sort of wicket we get. But, you know, it’s a great place to play cricket.”
“There’s usually reasonable bounce and pace for an English wicket. It’s probably as close as you get to Australia potentially in terms of pace and bounce. So yeah, it’s going to be a great Test match and the guys are looking forward to it,” he added