5 reasons why this could be a defining tour for Steven Smith as captain

#5 Personal milestone and building a team

The onus lies on Warner and Smith to score bags of runs for the Aussies

Smith is just a step away from reaching another milestone. He has scored 930 runs against India in Tests so far, another 70 runs to his existing tally will make him the 11th Australian batsman to have scored 1,000 Test runs against India. His deputy, David Warner, is right behind him with 888 runs against India. The race to get to the landmark is certainly on between both the batting stalwarts.

The Indian tour will without a doubt test Australia’s Achilles’ heel. Australia have drafted some budding talents, who are hungry to leave a mark on the grandest stage. With many new players like Matt Renshaw, Peter Handscomb, Mitchell Swepson, Ashton Agar and Steve O’Keefe all set to take the field on Indian soil for the first time, the series would serve as an ideal platform in identifying players’ tactics and strategies.

Some strengths and weaknesses of players will come to light, which helps the skipper and the management in identifying his resources and adjust according to the conditions in the distant future.