'I'm not sure whether he thinks...' - Steve Smith's take on competition with Indian veteran Virat Kohli

IND vs AUS 2023: 'I'm not sure whether he thinks...' - Steve Smith's take on competition with Indian veteran Virat Kohli (Image Source: Twitter)

India and Australia are facing off in the first Test that kicked off on February 9, Thursday and after all the talks about the pitch doctoring, the Nagpur surface paved way for Mohammed Siraj and Mohammed Shami to rattle the Australian openers David Warner and Usman Khawaja early on in the day. That being said, prior to the start of the series, Steve Smith opened up on the competition with Indian superstar Virat Kohli, given that both batters are one among the ‘Fabulous Four’. 

The Australian veteran claimed that he does not wish to compete with Kohli and claimed that he just wants to bat for his country. Smith said that he does not want to compete with the Indian superstar as both of them are unique in their own way. The Baggy Greens star was happy to laud his Indian counterpart and acknowledge Kohli’s masterclass. 

“No, I don't think so. I'm not sure whether he thinks there is or not. I'm not entirely sure that I certainly feel like. We just go out and play the game and try and do the best for our team. Yeah, hopefully, score some runs along the way to help us have success. That's the main goal for me. I don't feel like I'm batting against anyone or anything like that,” Smith was quoted as saying in an interview with Hindustan Times. 

He scored runs all around the world: Steve Smith

The Australian batter was all admiration for the Indian superstar and lauded the veteran for scoring runs all across the world. However, unlike Smith, Kohli is not in the best of forms when it comes to the longest format of the game. It remains to be seen if Kohli would roar back to form in the ongoing Border-Gavaskar trophy, although fans hope that he would continue his form from hereon. 

“I think the way he's able to take the bowlers on, really put them under pressure. I think that's a huge strength of his. He scored runs all around the world. His ability is to score both sides of the wicket. He's patient when he needs to be and he's been an amazing player for a very long time in all formats of the game.  So, hopefully for us, this series, he doesn't score too many. But you know, when he gets going, he is one of the best batters to watch in the world,” Smith was quoted as saying.