Cricket News : Steve Smith to bat at no. 3 against India as Mitch Marsh set to miss 1st T20I

Steven Smith will bat at No. 3 against India because Mitchell Marsh will be out with an injury. However, his position in Australia's starting XI will change as the men's T20 World Cup approaches.

Due to the absence of Marsh, David Warner, and Marcus Stoinis, Australia will be without three of their top six players for the three-match series against India that begins on Tuesday in Mohali.

Due to an ache, Mitchell Starc is likewise taking a break. With only nine games remaining before launching their championship defence at home against New Zealand,

Australia will build their team differently out of necessity. In the last 12 games he has played over a two-year span, Smith has batted at No. 3 in T20Is just once. In order to maintain structural balance, Marsh was benched against England in the 2021 T20 World Cupwhile Australia selected a fifth specialist bowler.

Since that time, Smith has batted no higher than No. 4 regardless of Marsh's availability, giving up his previous position as a movable "Mr Fix it" who would enter early at the loss of wickets in the powerplay in favour of a more stable spot in the middle order.

However, Tim David's inclusion in the team has raised doubts about his status in Australia's starting XIfor the World Cup due to his lack of strike strength in the middle order.

Smith has only batted eight times in his last 12 games, with a strike rate of 107.20, which is lower than his already average career T20 strike rate of 125.27.

Thus, it will be interesting to see what approach will Smith play with against India on Tuesday.

Aaron Finch reinforced Australia's confidence in Smith's talents as a flexible component in the lineup on Monday, confirming that Smith would probably bat at No. 3 in the series against India.

"Most likely he'll bat at three in this series with Mitch Marsh being out,"

Finch said.

"We know the quality that Steve's got. He's one of the best players that has ever played the game over all formats of the game. So we know the skill that he's got and the game sense and the tactical nous that he's got."

With an eye on both the 2017 World Cup in Australia and the diverse conditions that would be presented in the three matches in India, Finch revealed that Australia would experiment with the structure of their side and their people in various places.

Australia will be forced to restructure their bowling due to the loss of two allrounders in Marsh and Stoinis as well as a left-arm quick in Starc. This will directly affect the top seven players they can choose.

After participating in 14 T20Is for Singapore, David is expected to make his Australia debut in the middle of the order as a direct replacement for Stoinis. But he only bowls offspin seldom. Another player who could play if Australia wants a pace-bowling all-rounder is Cameron Green, who is not on the World Cup roster but is in India for this tour. Green has only played 14 professional T20s in his career, but he made his T20I debut for Australia during the recent tour of Pakistan.

However, following his recent efforts in the ODI series against Zimbabwe and New Zealand in Australia, Finch believed Green was capable of being a three-format player.

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