Steve Smith and Virat Kohli will look to outperform each other in ODI series, says Hussey

What’s the story?

Former Australian batsman Michael Hussey feels that the upcoming ODI series between India and Australia, which will be played in India, will witness a tough competition between Virat Kohli and Steve Smith. The Australian batting star opined that Smith will be keen to out-perform the Indian skipper in both batting and as a captain.

Talking to The Hindu on Monday, Hussey said, “Steve Smith will look at individual battles between him and Kohli. The great players, they like to get one up on each other and the opposition. And both being determined and captains as well, I am sure they will be pushing hard at each other, trying their best to get ahead, score more runs than one another. It will be an interesting battle within the battle, a race within a race.”

In case you didn’t know

Australia, who are currently in Bangladesh, will take on India in the ODI series later in September.

This will continue the rivalry between the two cricketing giants, who took centre stage in the recently concluded Border-Gavaskar Test series. The 4-Test series saw some fierce contest on the field, with Australia giving a hard time to India in all the four Tests. However, India came out on top and won the series 2-1.

The last time these two cricketing giants faced each other in 50-over cricket was in the 2016 series in Australia, wherein the hosts clinched a commanding 4-1 series win.

The schedule for the much-awaited contest hasn’t been announced yet and the fans, as well as the two teams eagerly wait for the same.

The details

The former Australian batting star also felt that India are now playing an aggressive brand of Cricket and it has got a lot to do with the way Virat Kohli leads the side.

He said, “India are now starting to get that tougher Aussie cricket culture as well. Skipper Kohli is very hungry for success, he’s happy to get into a scrap for a win which we haven’t always seen from the Indian teams in the past.”

Hussey was also keen to point out, “I am not saying there have not been tough India teams before but now they are willing to get into a fight. That’s got a lot to do with the way Virat leads the team, he’s very aggressive. It’s the Australian way.”

Hussey also felt that the upcoming ODI series will not see any such incidents that occurred on field during the rather dramatic Test series. Hussey opined, “There is not much time to get involved in that kind of stuff because the game’s moving so quickly, the next over, the next phase of the game, the next wicket. And there will not be much chatting because the fields will be spread out.”

What’s next?

India will host Australia for a 5-match ODI series, and the two greats of the modern game will be keen to take on each other. The series will also see a few games being played on new venues and the fans will be eager to watch their heroes perform.

Author’s take

The long-awaited ODI leg between India and Australia is surely going to be entertaining, as the two teams full of International stars will lock horns for the first time in the 50-over format after the five-match series in January 2016. And the series will also provide us an opportunity to watch the two best batsmen of this era, Kohli, and Smith, in the same game.

Both India and Australia have developed a new rivalry in the past few years and will look to dominate each other throughout the series.