Steve Smith
Criticism
of a first-day pitch with many cracks and variable bounce from a
visiting batsman is no surprise, especially when the score at stumps
reads 231/ 8.
Australia's Steven Smith followed the script on Friday, but watered it down a bit.
"It's
not the Day One wicket I am used to playing on. It's broken up pretty
early. It'll get tougher and tougher to bat on throughout this match. [A
score of] 231 at the end of Day One is not a bad day for us.
Hopefully, we can add another 50 runs tomorrow. It's going to be quite a competitive first innings score,” Smith said.
Regarding
the failure of the middleorder to put up any resistance against the
Indian spinners, Smith said: "The guys have worked very hard, prepared
and had their game plan. In these conditions, it's a tough place to bat
for us. Sometimes your game plan does not work in such conditions.”
Smith
has been an unlikely hero for the Aussies, scoring 92 in Mohali and 46
here, and asked about the mantra for his success, he said: "I spent a
lot of time in the nets in the first two Tests. It's about surviving
first and then score runs.”
For his part, Ravichandran Ashwin
said he didn't really consider India's inability to get the Aussie lower
order out in a jiffy as a 'problem'. "They have batted pretty well and
we have to stick to our guns. Look at [James] Pattinson — he averages
over 30. The era where you came and slogged and got out is over,” he
said.
Asked about the difference between the rank turner prepared
for the first Test in Chennai and this pitch, Ashwin said: "The
difference is in the soil. It is pretty evident that black soil [Delhi]
doesn't bounce as much as red soil [Chennai].”
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