It's going to be a challenge to play against Indian spinners on a dry wicket: Steve Smith

Dubai: Australia captain Steve Smith indicated a larger role for spinners on a dry pitch here, and said his side’s fortunes in the Champions Trophy semifinal on Tuesday depend on how they negate the Indian slow bowlers.

India employed four spinners against New Zealand in their final Group A match here on Sunday, and choked a capable Kiwis batting unit to register a 44-run win.

“I think not just Chakravarthy, I think the rest of their spin has quality as well. So I think for us, the game is probably how we play their spin. Yeah, it's going to be a challenge,” Smith said on Monday, on the eve of the last-four match against India.

“I think there's going to be some spin and yeah, we've got to counter that. We'll see how we do that tomorrow. We've got a few options on how we can go about it,” he added.

In that context, Smith hoped that opener Travis Head, India’s Voodoo man in knockout matches, will fire once again against his favourite opponents.

“There's pressure every time you play in a big game. But as we know, Travis has stood up in many of those in the past. You know, he looked in great touch the other night against Afghanistan.

“I'm sure he's going to be looking to come out here and play the same way he's played for a long time with good intent, good aggression. Hopefully, he can get away in that power play and get results from that.” Smith hoped that their net sessions in Dubai would be good enough for them to counter a strong Indian side, which played all its matches here.

“India obviously played all the games here. So they've seen what the pitch is doing. I don’t know if it is an advantage. Obviously, the whole square block is pretty dry. So, we've seen how the wickets are played.” Australia arrived in Dubai after their rained off last league match against Afghanistan, and had to wait for India’s match against New Zealand to know their eventual semifinal venue.

Smith saw it as a blessing in disguise. “So, yeah, ideal to be here and have a couple of days' preparation. I think, had we stayed and waited for last night's result, we would have had to fly here today and play tomorrow, not get a chance to train on the surface, get used to the conditions that we have at the academy,” he added.

The New South Welshman also hoped that the spin options in their ranks would do the job for the team.

“We do have plenty of options there. We've got Maxwell. (Matthew) Short’s obviously out now. It was a bit of a loss. He's been bowling quite nicely, bowled really well last game.

“We have Cooper Connolly as well, if we go down that path. We've got a lot of part-time options that could certainly play a role here and a couple of front-liners as well,” said Smith.

The 35-year-old batter said though they missed the presence of experienced players like Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood, the replacements had done well so far.

“Obviously we're missing some frontline bowlers that have done it for a long time. But we've got some guys here that have performed nicely. It's good exposure for them to be able to play in an international tournament.

“And I think they've handled themselves really well. So, yeah, hopefully another good performance from the guys tomorrow and we can get into another final,” he added.