Australian batting star Steve Smith had a word of advice for the Indians who were battered into submission in the first Test — “let it go and move on”.
The duo of Josh Hazlewood and Pat Cummins proved hot to handle as India was shot out for its lowest Test score of 36 in its second innings of the Day-Night Test and went on to lose by eight wickets. The caravan moves to Melbourne for the Boxing Day Test starting on December 26.
“Look, the other day we just saw some pretty incredible fast bowling. It is probably the best I've seen our bowlers bowl collectively for about five years,” said Smith at a virtual media conference hosted by official broadcaster Sony.
“The lengths they were hitting were impeccable. Sometimes that happens, you get a good ball and you nick it... you got to let it go and move on, and try and keep yourself in a positive mindset,” said the 31-year-old.
Asked what he thought India’s mindset would be after such a huge defeat, Smith said: “Every individual is different... the way they take their dismissals, how they think about the game after it's finished. It’s important to keep moving forward, look at yourself individually and what you could have done better.”
Saini, Siraj have quality
Though India will miss top pacer Mohammed Shami, Smith felt that India has quality bowlers in Navdeep Saini and Mohammed Siraj. “I think they’re two quality bowlers who can have good Test careers. Obviously they are missing Ishant (Sharma) as well, a big loss for them in terms of experience,” said Smith.
Dwelling on his dismissal in the first innings — he was deceived by an Ashwin special — Smth said: “The spinners who generally do well here are those who get over the top of the ball and beat you with more bounce or in the air as opposed to ones that come around the ball.
“It's about finding a way to adapt and that's what the best players do around the world. I'll hopefully learn something from that and play a little bit better in the next game," he said.