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Australia missing ‘big players’ Steve Smith and David Warner: Shikhar Dhawan

Indian opener Shikhar Dhawan has expressed his belief that Australia are missing out on the presence of ‘big players’ David Warner and Steve Smith, who are currently ruled of action due to 12-month-long international bans, while interacting with reporters on the eve of the Melbourne ODI. 

Skipper Aaron Finch, who is amongst the more experienced campaigners, has been in poor form lately which has resulted in a cautious approach in the initial overs. Finch has scored only 12 runs in the opening two matches of the three-match ODI series, with Bhuvneshwar Kumar dismissing the batsman on both the occasions. 

“Australia have got a good all-round, balanced side. Aaron Finch is a great batsman, but I feel that David Warner and Steve Smith’s presence is missing in the side. They are big players,” said Dhawan. 

“Bhuvi and Shami are experienced, that’s why in the first 10 overs we have been dominating and like to do it the same way. Finch is a great player and when you are playing against a player like him, you know that one inning can make the difference. We’ll make sure that our guards are up.”

Finch has lately struggled against quality swing bowlers, with Dhawan hailing the bowlers for implementing their plans against the opener effectively. 

“The bowlers must have seen his weakness and they’re implementing their plans nicely. We are hitting the right areas, not giving him singles that easily or even boundaries. Once you create that pressure to a batsman, especially in limited-overs, the batsman tends to take a chance/risk to score. That’s where we have the opportunity. When a batsman is not performing, out of his own expectations, he ends up putting more pressure on himself,” he concluded.

Source: Zee News