Batting in India is about sticking to plans and methods for long periods: Steve Smith

Batting in India demands unwavering focus and patience and that is what Australia would aim to do in the third Test after going away from their plans in Delhi said Steve Smith on TuesdaySmith will captain Australia here in the absence of Pat Cummins who has gone back home to be with his ailing mother The teams batting mainstay was also the captain when Australia toured India in 201617I dont know if you can call it full circle It captaincy has come in difficult circumstances with Patty back homeThings havent gone to plan so far in this series We have got ourselves into some good positions but not been able to take advantage of them We can hopefully rectify it this week said Smith on eve of the gameHalf of the side fell to the sweep shot in the second Test a game they could have won if it wasnt for the second innings collapseAlso Read With one foot in WTC final India thinking of simulating English conditions in AhmedabadSmith is not among the regular sweepers of the ball but the likes of Usman Khawaja and Alex Carey are The standinskipper backed the batters to keep playing the sweep but only with full convictionDelhi was probably a difficult place to play the sweep with the variable bounce more than anything else A couple of us including Smith went away from our plans That was disappointingFor a few players the sweep is a very productive shot They have got to stick to it a 100 percent If they are going to play it theyve to commit to it a 100 percent he saidAustralia aim to unsettle the rampaging Indian spinners by slowing the tempo of the gameFor us its about sticking to our plans and methods for long periods of time In the second innings in Delhi a lot of us went away from our plans and got undone by themWe can hopefully apply pressure on the spinners and post good totals on the board Thats key for us Hopefully we can put that into practice in the middle and execute under pressure said SmithThe visitors had an intense net session on Monday but not all batted a day before the game Smith and Marnus Labuschagne were among the ones who had a hit in the optional netsIn India starting your innings is the most difficult of probably anywhere in the world When you do face 3040 balls you can get a bit of a read on the wicket and the pace of the wicketThere are also some surprises Some balls will skid Some balls will spin There is certainly always something happening Youve got to be really focused he said furtherPart of Smiths gameplan against the spinners is to come down the track but DRS makes his task tougher with the LBW in playIts certainly there and in play DRS For me in particular I find it harder to come down the wicket to spinners You cant pad the ball away because you can still be given out on DRSBack in the day if you were that far down the wicket you probably werent going to get given out It changes a few things technically But at the same time you try to put that out of your mind and just play whats in front of youPitch looks similar to the last twoSmith expects the Indore pitch to be another turnerIts pretty similar to the last two Its pretty dry at both ends from six metres down I dare say it will take some reasonable spin as the game wears on I am not sure how much it will take to begin with We will wait and see he saidMitchell Starc will play for the first time in the series and Cameron Green is also expected to feature in the playing XI after recovering from a finger injuryWith Green and Starc fit now it provides us opportunities to go whichever way we want to go We have got some options there said SmithThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever