Australia’s Steve Smith on facing India in Champions Trophy semi-final

He said that he feels the game will depend on who deals with spin best.

“The game’s probably won and lost how we play this spin, particularly in the middle overs, the way we get through there,” he explained. “It’s going to be a challenge. I think that there’s going to be some spin by the looks of it, looking at the surface, and we’ve got to counter that. So we’ll see how we do that tomorrow.”

Although his side are without some key players – including the injured Matt Short – Smith expects his squad to rise to the challenge.

“It’s good exposure for them to be able to play in an international tournament on a big stage and I think they’ve handled themselves really well, so yeah, hopefully another good performance from the guys tomorrow and we can get into another final,” he said.