IND v AUS 2020: Matthew Hayden asks India to be careful of 'wounded warrior' Steve Smith

Former Australian opener Matthew Hayden has warned the Indian cricket team that Steve Smith will be eager to pounce on them after having missed out on the 2018-19 series against the Virat Kohli-led team.

He made this observation while previewing the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in a recent edition of the Star Sports show Game Plan.

Matthew Hayden was asked how keen would Steve Smith be to do well against India considering that he is a committed, driven cricketer and in a league of his own in Tests. The Queenslander highlighted that the Australian batting mainstay enjoys an excellent record against India.

"Steve Smith loves playing against India. He has almost scored 1500 runs at just sub a 100 average. He has had plenty of success against India."

Hayden observed that Steve Smith would be hurt he could not play against India when the Virat Kohli-led team inflicted a series defeat on the Kangaroos last time around.

"He will be a little dirty as well that he wasn't involved in the 2018-19 series where India did get up. That was a big loss for Australia and a big loss for him in person as well because in the 2014-15 series he had a huge average of 128 for something like that and 700-plus runs. So, he was a major contributor to that series."

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Matthew Hayden believes Steve Smith will be hungry to do well against India

Steve Smith loves to play the long innings in Test match cricket

Matthew Hayden asked the Indian team to be wary of Steve Smith as the latter will be like a wounded lion on the prowl.

"Sometimes, the wounded warrior is someone you need to be careful of."

The burly southpaw reminded India that Steve Smith has already got the better of them in the preceding ODI series with a couple of match-winning centuries.

"We have already seen Smith come out in the ODI series and start to look to dominate India. He has got a couple of hundreds already. He has looked dangerous in that format of the game."

Matthew Hayden signed off by highlighting that Steve Smith, much like Virat Kohli, has an insatiable appetite for runs.

"And he will be hungry, a bit like Virat, there is no end to the size of their stomach when they start consuming runs. They really just love it."

Two of the greatest!.#ViratKohli #SteveSmith #INDvAUS pic.twitter.com/EVjp50hx9A

— Cricket Cult (@CultCricket) December 15, 2020

Steve Smith has scored 7227 runs in his Test career thus far at an outstanding average of 62.84.

The Indian team has faced the brunt of his willow in the 10 Test matches he has played against them. The New South Welshman has amassed 1429 runs at a Bradmanesque average of 84.05 against the Indian attack.

The visitors would be keen to see him back in the pavilion early in his innings, as he could prove to be the biggest stumbling block in their quest to retain the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.

Even when preparing for a Test match it’s important to have a little downtime and switch off, even if it’s just for an hour over your Sunday morning coffee. This is not something that comes easy to me as I find it hard to stop visualising the game or shadow batting! #balance pic.twitter.com/jQZ6GiDHmv

— Steve Smith (@stevesmith49) December 13, 2020