Steven Smith unhappy over Australia's crunch fixture list in 2017

Australian skipper Steven Smith may be going through a tough time recently with his side a long way off from being the world-beaters they aspire to be, but it looks as if the 27-year-old is looking ahead rather than backwards as he lamented on Australia’s tough schedule at the start of 2017 which sees them playing their Test series opener against India just a day after a three-match T20 series against Sri Lanka at home finishes off.

While Smith might be personally seeking revenge for the humiliating 3-0 whitewash suffered at the hands of Angelo Mathews’ young side earlier this year, the past rivalry with India, especially their torrid record in the subcontinent, where they have not secured a series victory over Virat Kohli’s side since 2004/05, means the core of the Australian side will not doubt be engaged in preparation for the series against India while a second-string side composed mainly of T20 specialists will face off against Sri Lanka.

Smith’s recent comments about Indian Test skipper Virat Kohli is enough to ascertain where the Australian skipper’s attention lies, but nevertheless, he expressed disappointment at not getting an opportunity to play wherever Australia feature.

"I don't think it's ideal," Smith told ABC Grandstand. "I think the Australian public would love to see the best Australian team on the park for every game. It's difficult to do that with the schedule and how much we play."

Hitting out at the packed international schedule, Smith said that injuries were inevitable and that rotating the players around, especially the fast bowlers, was essential to maintain the fitness of the players in the long run. Smith himself left midway through the Sri Lanka series to freshen up mentally for the series against South Africa while pace spearheads Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazelwood sat out against the Proteas in preparation for the ongoing Test series against Pakistan.

"Had they (Starc & Hazelwood) been there, things could have been slightly different. We look now and see how well they're bowling, and (considering) how much cricket they've had to play over the summer, it was probably the right decision to have rested them and made sure they were fit for the summer," Smith said.

Another reason why Smith is angry about the insufficient time gap between the series’ against Sri Lanka and India is that most of the top players including himself and David Warner, which again leads to the question as to who will lead the side in the duo’s absence, will miss out on valuable T20 experience at the highest level of the game. The series against Sri Lanka will be played at home from February 17 to 22 while the first Test against India begins at Pune on February 23.

"In T20 cricket, we play games on and off, here and there," he said. "For me, the most important thing is that we win major tournaments in that format of the game, and that's the World Cup."