Indian spinner Harbhajan Singh has now suggested the key to get Smith out cheaply in the final ODI, which will be played in Canberra on Wednesday.
Steve Smith has caused significant problems for Team India in the first two ODIs of the three-match series in Australia. Smith scored centuries in both the games -- and both hundreds came in 62 deliveries, as he made life tough for the Indian bowlers with his aggressive batting.
Indian spinner Harbhajan Singh has now suggested the key to get Smith out cheaply in the final ODI, which will be played in Canberra on Wednesday.
With the series already in Australia's bag, the Indian team will face the home side to prevent a 3-0 clean sweep.
“I would like to see Smith batting against spinners," Harbhajan Singh told India Today.
"You know, Yuzvendra Chahal or maybe Kuldeep Yadav coming in, in the side. They both bowling in tandem and bowl 7-8 overs of spin when Smith comes in. Steve Smith is someone who likes pace on the bat if you take that away from him for some time that might be the key point to get him out.”
Yuzvendra Chahal has had miserable outings in the two ODIs so far. While he conceded 89 runs in the first match (a record for most expensive Indian spinner in ODIs), Chahal bowled nine overs in the second game, ending wicketless for 71 runs.
"I don’t see anything wrong going with Chahal. It’s the conditions, it’s purely the different conditions what they get in Australia and what they were getting in UAE,” Harbhajan defended the leg spinner.
However, he advised Chahal to bowl slower in the air to get a bit of turn.
“It’s just as Virat said, Australians know their wicket better than others and they are taking their chances against him [Chahal]. So, my advice to Chahal would be to keep working harder on his game and bowl a little bit slower in the air if possible and you might see some turn on the wicket,” said Harbhajan.
