Australian star batsman Steve Smith has named two “quality bowlers” in the Indian team who can go on to have “good Test careers” and also be considered the apt replacement for Mohammed Shami, who has been ruled out of the remainder of the series after sustaining an injury in the first Test, and Ishant Sharma.
India suffered a humiliating loss in the first Test, having scored just 36 runs in the second innings—their lowest Test score ever—as Australia won the day/night match by eight wickets.
With both Shami and Ishant, and not to mention captain Virat Kohli who is going on paternity leave, missing from the playing XI ahead of the Boxing Day Test at Melbourne Cricket Ground, India have a tough challenge ahead of them.
However, former captain Smith feels that Mohammad Siraj and Navdeep Saini are two bowlers who can replace the veterans, and go on to have great things in their Test cricket careers.
“I think they’re two quality bowlers who can have some good Test careers. Obviously, they are missing Ishant as well, which is a big loss for them in terms of experience,” Smith said.
He also acknowledged Indian spinners who have adapted to the conditions in Australia and do well on the pitch.
“The spinners that do well here generally those who get over the top of the ball and beat you with more bounce or in the air as opposed to ones that come around the ball.”
He said he has learnt from his mistakes in the first Test, in which he was able to score only a single run in both innings.
“It’s about finding a way to adapt and that’s what the best players do around the world. I’ll hopefully learn something from that, move forward and play a little bit better in the next game,” he added.
India and Australia take on each other again on Saturday.