Challenge to play against Indian spinners on a dry wicket: Steve Smith

Dubai, Mar 3: Australia captain Steve Smith indicated a larger role for spinners on a dry pitch here and said his side’s fortunes in the Champions Trophy semifinal on Tuesday depend on how they negate the Indian slow bowlers.

India employed four spinners against New Zealand in their final Group A match here on Sunday and choked a capable Kiwis batting unit to register a 44-run win.

“I think not just Chakravarthy; I think the rest of their spin has quality as well. So I think for us, the game is probably how we play their spin. Yeah, it's going to be a challenge,” Smith said on Monday, on the eve of the last-four match against India.

“I think there's going to be some spin, and yeah, we've got to counter that. We'll see how we do that tomorrow. We've got a few options on how we can go about it,” he added.

In that context, Smith hoped that opener Travis Head, India’s Voodoo man in knockout matches, will fire once again against his favourite opponents.