Australian middle-order is quite baffled with the wicket at Feroz Shah Kotla and has rated it as not fit as a first day wicket. Australian team has again failed miserably against the Indian spinners and at one point of time were not even looking good enough to bat 90 overs.
According to the recent reports in Times of India, Smith was said, "It doesn’t look to me a first day pitch. It’s having lots of cracks and I have never batted on this kind of surface on the first day of the Test.”
He added, “Pitch has broken up pretty early. It will get tougher and tougher to bat throughout this match. The uneven bounce is going to be a crucial factor and we have seen that just before Philip Hughes got out. He was hit in the grill with a short of a length delivery which not only surprised him but the complete dressing room. If we talk about Hughes, he was very good today. He came out with a positive mind-set and found his way over here," he said.
Smith, who made a defiant 145-ball 46, said the visitors would look to add another 50 runs tomorrow to their first-innings total of 231 for eight.
Meanwhile, Australian All-Rounder, was quoted by Deccan Chronicle saying, "231 is a fighting total and if we can add good 50-60 runs on the board then we still have a very good chance to bounce back in this match.”
"Spin will play a crucial role in this test as pitch has started showing its true color and Indian spin trio kept a perfect example of it. Everybody has something to get from this wicket not just spin bowlers. Pacers can play a major role once the ball is old,” he added.
"It’s all about doing your hard work and stick to the game-plan. Sometimes things go in your favour and sometimes it doesn’t and that’s the beauty of the game is. Even, I spent a lot of time in the nets. It's about keeping the price on his wickets and wait for the loose deliveries to do the scoring. For me, it's about watching the ball as hard as I can and then play my shots against the spin," he was quoted by Indian Express.
Another report in the Hindustan Times quoted Steve smith saying, "Playing spin was the toughest task on this wicket and I did felt that heat once I was in the middle. As the ball gets little bit softer, it becomes little bit easier for us and I kept the old principle chanting all the time in my mind of spending more time in the middle to get a big score. I think that's one thing we need to take from this tour.”