da dobrowin： Australia captain Steven Smith said he was “in the zone” in Pune and hopes to bring the same to Bengaluru during the second Test
da apostaganha： Melinda Farrell in Bengaluru03-Mar-20171:34
Crucial to post big first innings total – Smith
A man possessed. Eyes glazed, moving in a trance, reaching the zen of batting enlightenment, if you will.On a crumbling pitch against the game’s best bowlers of spin, Steven Smith went to another level. Team-mates had never seen him quite like this. Sure, he’d made bigger scores, played innings with less chances, and bossed bowling attacks. But the focus, intensity and determination of Smith’s Pune century was something he’s rarely achieved. And, with a confidence that should sound a warning to India, he believes he can go there again.”I was, I guess, what they call ‘in the zone’ out there,” said Smith. “I was doing things that I probably haven’t done before. My eyes were sort of spinning and I was in a bit of a trance – I think I’ve been there a couple of times in that kind of mindset.”For me it was just such an important period of the game and I knew if we could get to 300 or over that, we’d be a real good chance to win. That afternoon I was very determined and focused on the job at hand to try and get as many as we could, and I guess if it calls for it again, hopefully, I can bring that next level out, and next gear out. It was pleasing to know I had that level in me.”It’s not the first time Smith has found another level in his evolution as a batsman. His overall batting average after 51 Tests of 60.34 is impressive enough but doesn’t reflect the way he successfully changed his technique in the Perth Test of the 2013-14 Ashes, and dramatically improved as a result.Pre-WACA, Smith averaged a modest 33.00, but heading into the third Test he made a key change in adopting his back-and-across trigger movement.It triggered plenty of runs. From the start of that Test, in which he made 111, he has averaged 72.55. Now that IS impressive.But Smith knows he and his teammates must aim much higher in batting-friendly Bangalore if they are to go two-nil up in the series. England passed 400 three times in their first innings in the five Tests they played here recently, posting 537 in the opening Test at Rajkot. Even that could only secure them a draw.”England batted reasonably well and got 400 pretty consistently but that wasn’t good enough,” said Smith. “You had to bat for longer and get your 550, 600 to be in the game. That’s what India did. That’s what we were expecting when we first came over here but that first wicket wasn’t one where you needed to score that many runs, so we had to reassess our plans, we thought 250 was a very good score.”That was that wicket. Now we have to sum it up again with this wicket. I think this one is more likely going to be one where we are going to have to go really big, but it could be totally different, it could play totally different to what we think at the moment. It’s about being able to sum it up and being adaptable and being able to communicate straight away what we think the wicket is like.”There has been a huge amount of scrutiny on the pitch preparation at M Chinnaswamy Stadium, sparked in part by the widespread criticism of the Pune surface, rated as “poor” by the match referee, Chris Broad.But for all the talk of cloak and dagger tactics and mystery substances, many of those who are accustomed to conditions here – including Virat Kohli – have described it as a typical Bangalore wicket. The square, which has been mowed in an unusual chequerboard pattern, is pristine and the wicket appears vastly different to what was offered at Pune.Smith doesn’t expect as much turn early in the match, something Australia’s batsmen coped with better than India in Pune, happy to play and miss at Ashwin and Jadeja balls that jagged too sharply to take an edge. For all the turn on offer it was often the straight delivery that took the wickets, and Smith believes that remains the danger ball for Australia.”I think it’s part of batting, you’ve got to be willing to sacrifice certain things and willing to get out certain ways,” said Smith. “In these conditions, I think that’s really important. We don’t want to get hit on the pads. That’s been an issue for a while with this group, where we’ve been getting hit on the pads. I think if we’re willing to edge it to the slips then we’ll live with that. We’re OK with that.”It’s hard to imagine Smith ever being “OK” with losing his wicket but even if he is out lbw, if Australia has a winning total on the board he probably won’t even mind.
