IND vs AUS | Axar Patel can be a big threat to Steve Smith, opines Irfan Pathan

India will square off against Australia in a four-match Test series before playing ODIs and there has been a lot of hype around the role spinners will play in the series. The visitors have prepared for the series by playing on a rank turner in Australia. The hosts will face a tough challenge of R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, and Axar Patel in the series and they will rely on their ace batters Steve Smith and Marnus Labushcgane to counter the spinners. Irfan Pathan has also opined the same stating that Axar Patel will be a big threat to Smith.

"The challenge of Steve Smith will be there for Indian cricket but I think one guy, which I have a great feeling, who can actually have the numbers against him is Axar Patel. If he plays regularly all the matches, the kind of trajectory he has, he can be a big threat to him,” Irfan said on Star Sports. 

Smith has been one of the Test batters around the world with his unorthodox playing style and the effective use of the bottom hand. The batter has scored 660 runs from 12 Test innings in India with an average of 60 including three centuries and a fifty. Irfan stated that Axar can trouble Smith by bowling at stumps continuously. 

"The line and length he bowls, the straight ball he bowls, he can bring the lbw or bowled into play against Steve Smith, especially because he uses his bottom hand a lot. A bowler who continuously bowls at the stumps can prove to be an alarm bell against such a player, that is Axar Patel,” he explained.