Steve Smith reveals how 'madness in 1 hour' might have cost Australia the series vs India

Steve Smith lamented the Delhi loss as he revealed how an hour of madness derailed their plot at Arun Jaitley Stadium in the second Test of the Border-Gavaskar trophy. India booked a place in the World Test championship final as the fourth and final Test ended in a draw. As New Zealand defeated Sri Lanka in the first Test India will now take on Australia in the summit clash on June 7th at the Oval.

Steve Smith laments one-hour madness in Delhi

India retained the Border-Gavaskar trophy as Rohit Sharma and Co won the four-match Test series 2-1. Riding on Virat Kohli and Shubman Gill's batting brilliance the men in blue negated the Australian bowling in the first innings as the hosts had posted a massive 571 on board, taking a lead of 91 runs.

Smith who has been in charge as a stand-in captain following the departure of Pat Cummins to Australia displayed pretty good leadership skills as the visitors fought out shoulder-to-shoulder with the home side. He claimed the Delhi Test was lost due to an hour of madness.

"Did end slowly. Was a pretty flat at the back end. The boys had a great time. The hospitality has been amazing. The crowd has been amazing. We started to play better as the series went on. The madness in one hour in Delhi cost us that game. The wicket here was too flat for us to force a result. The spinners bowled really well. Murphy and Kuhnemann bowled with composure. Lyon bowled his best in the first innings here, the best I have seen him bowl. I am getting a bit old (on asked if he will be touring India in four years time),"

The two teams will be facing each other in the WTC Final in June later this year and Smith insisted it would be a great match to fight for. “The guys are really pumped by it, really excited. We saw India when they came back out on the field just after New Zealand had won in what looked like a pretty cool Test match. It’s going to be great coming up against India in the final."