Indian bowlers not good as Wagner is with short balls, indicates Smith

If Jasprit Bumrah amp Co plan to get rid of Steve Smith with short deliveries they may have to target the area between Smiths shoulder and ribs for a significantly long period and vary the pace of the deliveries al la New Zealand pace bowler Neil Wagner who troubled the Australian batter last summer dismissing him four out of five times in three TestsAhead of the BorderGavaskar Trophy Smith on Tuesday threw down the gauntlet at the Indian bowlers saying that the area Wagner targets may not be possible for Indian bowlers because of his unique ability to use short deliveries with speed variations and for a long timeHe Wagner is really patient with them He is able to do that all day There are not too many quick bowlers that can run in and bowl bouncers the whole day I guess the way Neil does is that he is particularly special He gets balls between shoulder and rib high He is incredibly accurate And then he has an ability to change his pace said Smith to a question from IANS on why he thinks Indian pacers led by Bumrah would not be able to trouble him with bouncers as Wagner wouldIt is one of the hardest things that guys not just me but some of the other guys as well coped with last year He bowled one ball at 135 the next ball would be at 128 the next ball would be at 130 and 135 It was tough to get a rhythm because his short balls were coming out at different pace I think he has a pretty unique set of skills the way he does it He has done to not just me but to plenty of different batsmen around the world he addedThe Australian runmachines struggle last year against Wagner was reminiscent of what Don Bradman faced during the bodyline series of 193233 when the English tried the legside trap to Bradman continuously targeting him with short balls at the bodyJust like Bradman then Smith still managed to pick some runs 214 runs at an average of 428 with two halfcenturies though he couldnt play big knocksSmith added that Wagners skills at using the short ball cant be matched by anyone as the Kiwi has picked majority of his wickets from thatHe Wagner is the number two Test bowler at the moment or something like that number three behind Pat Cummins and Stuart Broad Bumrah is the best Indian at number nine I think you look at Neil Wagners career the way he bowls you see the majority of wickets he has got are from shortpitched bowling with the way they set the field up And he is the number two bowler for a reason I mean that is what he does yeah it means he is different to what anyone tries to do it It others bowling is not the same as Neil does He Possesses a set of skills that not many do and he does that for a very long time Smith saidOne of Wagners strengths is the angle he gets from round the wicket as a leftarmer making it difficult for righthanded batsmen The Indian bowling unit lacks a leftarm pacer so if they are going to use the short deliveries and target the area between shoulder and ribs they may have to be very accurate as Smith alludes while praising Wagner Otherwise Smith having a habit of moving to the off could have a field day if the Indians get waverBumrah could be the man targeted to trouble Smith with short deliveries He used the delivery well during the recent Indian Premier League getting rid of players like Virat Kohli and Andre Russell Smith says that this kind of talk others preying on his shortball weakness gives him confidenceYeah people can go for that In a way it is a kind of flattery if people try to get me out off short balls because theyve exhausted all other options Gives me a lot of confidence to know that he addedSmith also said that Test cricket allows a batsman to form partnership unlike limited overs cricket meaning that even if you are barraged with short balls you can waitIt is Test cricket That is the beauty of it You can form partnerships for as long as you can do So if I can take that kind of approach then great I managed to do that against New Zealand he added While I had some contribution my strike rate was downKeep scrolling to read more newsCatch up on all the latest sports news and updates hereAlso download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updates MidDay is now on Telegram Click here to join our channel middayinfomedialtd and stay updated with the latest newsThis 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