Pune: Australia captain Steve Smith believes that the Indian cricket team, under the leadership of Virat Kohli, has evolved, and are playing a brand of cricket that is quite similar to what the Aussies play.
The four-match Test series between India and Australia turned out to be a thrilling contest between two of the best sides in modern day Test cricket, with Kohli’s men winning the series 2-1.
Despite the high-quality cricket played in the series, the aspect that got the limelight was the on and off-field argy-bargy between the cricketers.
However, Smith, who was also involved in the on and off-field controversies, accepted that India’s new approach is something that his countrymen have been doing for a long time.
“India, I think, have adopted a similar mindset, they try to be very aggressive in how they go about things and that certainly seems to be Virat’s approach. I think it’s a great way to play cricket,” Smith said to NDTV.
“There has been a little bit of a shift in India’s approach. There is a lot more aggressiveness on the field and a bit of banter here and there, which is always fun,” he further said.
When quizzed specifically on the way Aussies go about playing the ‘gentleman’s game’, Smith said, “Australian cricket hasn’t changed a great deal. We have always tried to play an up-tempo and positive brand of cricket. We were always trying to take the game on and be sort of entertainers and try and be as positive as possible.”
However, Smith played down the level of sledging in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, saying that the cricketers must be given the scope to express themselves on the field, as they have to play under a lot of pressure.
“I don’t want to really cover that issue, it is all in the past. Sometimes your emotions can get the better of you and that’s just the way international sport goes. People learn from their mistakes, continue to improve and get better,” said Smith.
