SL vs AUS: Steve Smith looks to make changes in approach while playing spin - I know I have got a few more shots
India Today
Steve Smith is set to take part in the two-match Test series against Sri Lanka, set to start on June 29 at the Galle International Stadium.
Right-handed batter Steve Smith said that he is working on improving his game while facing quality spin bowling. Earlier this year, the veteran played three Tests against Pakistan, where he was Australia’s second-highest run-scorer in the series after Usman Khawaja. Smith scored 226 runs from four innings at an average of 56.50.
While he scored three half-centuries, Smith was disappointed after he failed to convert even one of them. The New South Wales-born cricketer said that playing shots against spin-bowling and putting pressure on the opposition is the best way forward.
Smith put forth his opinions before Australia’s two-match Test series against Sri Lanka, set to get underway on Wednesday, June 29 at the Galle International Stadium.
"I probably had three opportunities to get hundreds in Pakistan, I just didn't quite convert them. I feel like my plans were in a pretty decent place, but I could've potentially been a bit more aggressive against the spin over there, and played a few more shots,” Smith was quoted as saying on The Unplayable Podcast.
"But I was also batting at stages where the ball was reversing quite big and I know as a batter coming in next, it's probably the toughest thing to face a reversing ball on those kinds of wickets against some good bowlers in (Shaheen) Afridi and Hasan Ali.”
"So it's playing the game and being patient and playing the tempo, which we spoke a lot about in Pakistan; against the new ball you can play a few more shots, like I did in the third Test when I got in a little bit earlier, and got some boundaries away early,” he stated.
"But then when the ball gets a bit softer, it's reversing, you have to rein it back in until you get your moment to go a bit more aggressive.
