Soon after coming to the JSCA Stadium for their practice session on the eve of the third Test, Australia captain Steve Smith and head coach Darren Lehmann walked straight to the pitch and had a close look. Both carefully studied the pitch every inch of the 22-yard surface, watching it from either side of the crease while Smith even bent down to see how hard the surface was. They were soon joined by a majority of their mates before heading to training.
The pitch has been at the centre of the attention this series with both Pune and Bengaluru getting “poor” and “below average” ratings, with neither of the Tests going full distance. It is expected that the pitch here will not be as bad as the ones preceding this but certainly looks like a result-oriented pitch.
Asked if he could just ignore what the pitch looked like and focus on the cricketing skills, Smith said on Wednesday: “When we came over to India, we were under no illusions of winning or losing. We knew we are going to potentially get some difficult wickets to play on. The first two Test matches were pretty tough wickets. We adopted some good plans and played some very good cricket. This wicket is no different. The first day will probably hold together reasonably well and then start to break up from there.
“So, it’s about adapting what we do in the middle and be in the contest for a long time. Playing the game is important, that’s what we are here to do. You have to adapt to what the wicket is doing. You need to know what you are likely to expect and play according to what the wicket entails. That is part of what we talk about, playing anywhere in the world and adapting and making sure we have the game plan in place to be successful.”
Australian off-spinner Nathan Lyon took eight wickets in the first innings of the Bengaluru Test but suffered finger injury because of bowling so many overs. Smith said “Lyon’s finger has healed in the last week or so and am sure he is fine”.
Asked if the pressure on Lyon will mount, what with Mitchell Starc going back home due to stress fracture on his right foot, Smith said: “Obviously, when you lose someone of the class and calibre of Mitchell Starc, it is always difficult. We are confident that the rest of the bowling group can do the job to take 20 wickets in the Test match.”
Smith said that his team had plans for the low-bounce pitch that his team expects to encounter here. Asked the ways to go about bowling on such low-bounce pitches, Smith said: “You have to be hitting the stumps majority of the time. That’s pretty basic. You have to keep things as simple as you can, try and build pressure and perhaps take wickets in different ways.
"We have got certain plans in place for these kinds of wickets where there is not much bounce. Guys just have to adapt and play according to what the wicket entails and that is something we are big on in this Australian team. Hopefully, we can adapt and have the right plans and execute our skills well in this Test match.”
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 "Cricket, India, Australia, India v/s Australia, Web Exclusive, steve smith, mitchell starc, nathan lyon, Darren Lehmann, Ranchi")
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