India vs Australia 2017: 5 issues Australia should resolve before the third Test

#5 Captaincy of Smith

Smit‘ has to have a measured approach in his decision-making in India

The job of visiting captains has never been easy in India. Firstly they have to deal with the difficult sub-continent conditions and often have limited resources to challenge the strong Indian sides. Steve Smith started unbelievably well in this series but at the end of the second Test, there are several questions that need to be answered regarding his captaincy.

One of the vital elements of winning Tests in India is to know when to attack and when to sit back and wait for the opposition to make a mistake. Smith, during India’s second innings, went over attacking in the beginning and allowed Mukund and Rahul to get vital runs. And when the pair of Rahane and Pujara got set, Smith stopped looking for wickets and instead opted for preventing runs.

Once that plan failed, he was waiting for the new ball to get a breakthrough, but even that strategy to attack with the new ball had an element of risk as Pujara and Rahane were set and looking to further consolidate the lead.

In the third Test, Smith will be dealing with an Indian team which is full of confidence and hence has to be spot on with his captaincy. Another issue that will come back to bite him in the series is the ‘brain fade’ moment which got him in plenty of trouble.

Luckily for Australia, there is some gap before the next Test and hence they have time to introspect and work out their game plan. Their chances of putting up a strong performance depend on how well they handle these five issues.