'He can be big threat': Irfan Pathan names Indian bowler who can challenge Steve Smith

Steve Smith has been one of Team India's biggest hurdles whenever he has played against them and also has scored runs every time. Steve Smith was amongst the runs when Australia last toured India for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in 2017 and was one of the difficult batsmen for Team India to dismiss. 

Former Indian bowler Irfan Pathan has now picked the Indian bowler who can be a big threat for Steve Smith. During a discussion on Star Sports Irfan said, "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 in all the matches, the kind of trajectory he has, he can be a big threat to him."

Irfan said: '......Against Steve Smith'

"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", Irfan added. 

Axar Patel has no experience of playing against Australia but still he has a phenomenal bowling record in the home conditions. The left arm spinner has picked up 39 wickets in six Tests at an outstanding average of 12.43.

'He is definitely an Australian legend'

Irfan also didn't deny the fact that still Steve Smith will be one of the biggest challenges for Team India. Irfan said, "No doubt about that. He is definitely an Australian legend. If you look at Australian history as well, he is up there. He has troubled the Indian bowlers a lot, scoring tons of runs. Even though you know that he has got a really solid bottom hand, he still finds ways to score runs in front of the wickets, on the off and leg side. We need to have a proper plan."

Team India had made many plans to dismiss Steve Smith in Australia last time. At that time Ravichandran Ashwin was the bowler to dismiss Smith. 

Steve Smith has been performing brilliantly off late and is coming with a very nice batting average ahead of the series. The first test of the Border-Gavaskar series will be played from 9th February in Nagpur.