Smith expects India to respond after Adelaide debacle

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Steve Smith

Australian batsman Steve Smith believes India will look for a positive response in the Boxing Day Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.

This after the tourists were bundled out for just 36 – their lowest-ever score – in the second innings of the first Day-Night Test at the Adelaide Oval last week and subsequently lost by eight wickets.

Expect India to respond

The defeat has drawn ire from both sides of fans, and Smith feels the tourists won’t leave any stone unturned in an effort to make a comeback in the series when they take the field at the MCG.

“You have to just forget about the low scores. Sometimes they happen in the game, teams can get on a roll and there can be some pretty good bowling. That happens,” Smith said on SEN Mornings.

“How do I expect India to bounce back? I’m sure they’ve looked at the footage and seen how they can improve.

“They’ll come out hard, they’ve got some quality players so I guess time will tell, we’ll wait and see.”

Meanwhile, the former Australian captain laughed off suggestions from Ian Chappell that bouncers should be outlawed against tail-end batsman.

“It seems like Ian Chappell has an outlandish statement after every match at the moment. From my point of view, short balls are part of the game,” he added.

“From my point of view, short balls are part of the game. We’ve seen over the years there’s been some really good battles and I don’t think it should be outlawed at all.”

At least two changes for visitors

Smith is currently the world’s top-ranked batsman but was dismissed cheaply by Ravi Ashwin in the first innings in Adelaide.

India were dealt a significant blow on Monday after Mohammed Shami was ruled out for the rest of the series with an injury.

Captain Virat Kohli left for home on Tuesday to be with his pregnant wife and Ajinkya Rahane will lead India for the remainder of the series.

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