Steve Smith's Analysis Of Nagpur Pitch Will Give Sleepless Nights To Skipper Pat Cummins

Nagpur: The much-awaited Border-Gavaskar Trophy gets underway tomorrow, February 9 in Nagpur. The pitches that teams will get in the series have been a hot topic of debate ahead of the opener. Recently, the images of the Nagpur pitch went viral and if they are anything to go by, the wicket will be a rank-turner.

India have a plethora of spinners in their ranks and things won't be easy for the Australians. R Ashwin has been a great exploiter of the dust bowls and he will be the biggest asset for team India in the Nagpur Test. Ashwin has enjoyed great success against Australia and he will be eyeing another successful show against the Pat-Cummins-led side.

Ahead of the series opener, Australia practiced with Mahesh Pithiya who has a similar action to the Test veteran. Speaking about the Ashwin threat, Australia vice-captain Steve Smith said that the team is not thinking too much about R Ashwin.

"There has been many off-spinners we played and Mahesh is one of them. He bowls a similar style (to that) of Ashwin. We are not overthinking things. Ash is a quality bowler but we have the tools in our kit bag to counter that," Smith told reporters during a media conference.

Giving his views on the Nagpur Test wicket, the veteran said that he expects the wicket to turn sharply. Smith's analysis of the Nagpur Test pitch will send the alarm bells ringing in the Australian camp.

"Pretty dry, particularly one end. I think it will take a bit of spin, particularly the left-arm spinner taking it into our left-handers. There's a section there that's quite dry," he added.

"Other than that, I can't really get a good gauge on it. I don't think there will be a heap of bounce in the wicket, I think it will be quite skiddy for the seamers and maybe a bit of up-and-down movement as the game goes on.

"The cracks felt quite loose. I'm not entirely sure we'll wait and see."

Smith was pretty happy with Australia's preparation for the first Test. "We had a few good sessions in Bangalore and now here as well. The boys are shaping up well. I think it will be a bit skiddy, slow but not entirely sure," Smith said.