Steven Smith Reflects On Challenges Against Indian Spinners, Says 'We Struggled To Get On Top'

In their opening World Cup encounter, India defeated Australia by six wickets at Chepauk in an exciting battle. The match's heroes were KL Rahul and Virat Kohli, but not before Indian spinners helped hold the Australians to 199 runs.

Steve Smith acknowledged the difficulties the Australian batters experienced against the Indian spinners on the challenging Chepauk pitch after their defeat in the high-stakes match.

"Everyone of their spinners bowled quite well. They obviously had the wicket to match as well," Smith said.

"Being against the spin was difficult since all of them are excellent spinners. We had a hard time controlling them because of how well they worked together," Smith went on.

Smith gave Rahul and Kohli credit for their batting during the game, highlighting the value of poise and strategic play on a difficult pitch.

"The game was on. We were unable to tolerate it, regrettably. Rahul and Virat both played with a great deal of poise. They were very clever cricketers," Smith said.

When discussing the challenges of the game, he said that it was difficult to bowl in the misty circumstances and that the pitch was difficult to bat on.

It was a difficult surface with some noticeable spin as well as movement for seam bowlers looking to exploit gaps in the seam. Thus, it was evidently challenging," the vice captain of Australia stated.

Smith also discussed the significance of aiming higher, taking into account the dew effect that encouraged later-evening batting.

"200 was a tad below average. We would have been in for an intriguing game if we had gone up and posted 250," he continued.

Smith, who scored the highest run total for Australia with a 46 off 71 balls, was happy with his batting but regretted not being able to extend it into a longer innings.

"I felt like I was playing really well. On this track, I had to sort of grind my way through in order to maintain the runs. I felt like I was making good progress, hitting some well-placed drives to the spinners and fast bowlers. but regrettably was unable to create a larger one," Smith remarked.

Before being removed by Ravindra Jadeja with a delivery from the back of the length, Smith looked to be in fine form. The ball first touched down close to the leg-stump line, then veered quickly to clip the top of the off-stump. Smith tried to play following the line of the delivery, but the late spin had him completely confused.

Australia's next game is scheduled for October 12 against South Africa. In Delhi, South Africa opened their campaign with a commanding 102-run victory over Sri Lanka.