Steve Smith reckons India will be tough to beat in World T20

Australia skipper Steve Smith will be desperate to secure the major international cricket trophy his country has never won but thinks India are going to be tough to beat when they host the World T20 next month. Australia’s best result in the 5 previous editions came when they reached the 2010 final. The Australia squad, world champions in 50-overs cricket and number one in the Test rankings, flew to South Africa on Sunday morning to prepare for the March 8 – April 3 tournament. The two teams will contest a 3-match T20I series.

“On any given day in T20 cricket any side can be dangerous, an individual can take a game away from you. (But) I think India in Indian conditions are going to be very tough to beat. They’re a very good side as we saw out here in the three Twenty20s we played in Australia so I think they’re going to be right up there,” Smith told reporters at the Sydney airport.

Smith though will go into a tournament believing his side can win it. “It’s one that’s alluded us, the T20 World Cup, and it would be great to win that trophy, that’s our goal. It’s going to be a tough tour in India, in conditions that are foreign to us. But it’s really exciting and I think we’ve got the squad to give that tournament a real shake,” Smith added.

Australia will look more to the batting line-up to make the difference in India though Smith seems unsure about the look of it. “I’m not really sure of the makeup of our top three or four yet, obviously, there are a lot guys who fill those positions. We’ve got three games to have a look at that before the World Cup. We’ve got some very destructive and talented batters up the top of the order that we can choose from,” he concluded.

Smith also stated that all four injury concerns – Aaron Finch, Shane Watson, James Faulkner and Nathan Coulter-Nile – were “tracking well” and should be in contention to feature in the three matches in South Africa. Australia gets their World T20 campaign underway against New Zealand in Dharamsala on March 18.