‘He can be an alarm bell against Steve Smith’ – Irfan Pathan reveals who will be India’s secret weapon against Australian star come Border- Gavaskar Trophy
Steve Smith has scored 1742 runs against India in 14 games.
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Feb 4, 2023 11:57 am
Steve Smith and Irfan Pathan (Source: Twitter)
The Border Gavaskar Trophy will be played between India and Australia starting February 9. This will be the first time that it will be held in India since 2016-17. India won the trophy the last time it was held on home soil under Anil Kumble’s coaching. India won the three-Test match series 2-1 after losing the first Test in Pune.
Steve Smith will be a big wicket for India and they will be coming out with strategies and tactics on how to plot the downfall of the former Australian captain. Irfan Pathan, who spoke of the same, said on a show on Star Sports that Axar Patel will be the secret weapon that India can use to get Smith out at home. The-right handed batter has scored 1742 runs from 14 Test matches against India.
Axar Patel can bring lbw or bowled into play against Smith – Irfan Pathan
“No doubt about that. He is definitely an Australian legend. If you look at the Australian history as well, he is up there. He has troubled the Indian bowlers a lot, scored tons of runs. Even though you know that he has got a really solid bottom hand, but still he finds ways to score runs in front of the wickets, on the off and leg side. We need to have a proper plan,” said Irfan.
“The challenge of Steve Smith will be there for Indian cricket but I think one guy, which I have a great feeling, who can actually have the numbers against him is Axar Patel. If he plays regularly all the matches, the kind of trajectory he has, he can be a big threat to him,” The former India all-rounder added.
“The line and length he bowls, the straight ball he bowls, he can bring the lbw or bowled into play against Steve Smith, especially because he uses his bottom hand a lot. A bowler who continuously bowls at the stumps can prove to be an alarm bell against such a player, that is Axar Patel,” Axar Patel had proved his worth in his debut Test series against England. He picked 27 wickets in three matches that he played on home soil.
