‘Keep bowling it outside’: R Ashwin commends Steve Smith for plotting against Virat Kohli and Hardik Pandya

Ravichandran Ashwin on Friday praised the captaincy of Steve Smith in the 3rd ODI between India and Australia. The veteran spinner gave credit to Smith for masterminding the dismissal of Virat Kohli and Hardik Pandya, which shifted the momentum towards the visitors.
Both Kohli and Pandya were trying to go inside out against the Ashton Agar but the nature of the pitch wasn’t allowing them to hit through the line. Ashwin said that Smith took note of that and asked Agar to bowl outside the off stump so that Kohli and Pandya went after him.
“Let me highlight Steve Smith’s captaincy here. When Adam Zampa and Ashton were bowling, the pitch was holding a bit. Not all the balls turned, some were holding and going straight as well. Both Virat and Hardik tried to hit over extra cover and the ball fell just short of the long-off fielder. At that time, I noticed Steve Smith was constantly telling Ashtan Agar from the first slip, ‘keep bowling it outside’. He was repeating this,” Ashwin said in his YouTube channel.

“Because when they see the line, they will try to go over extra cover and if the ball holds its line and goes straight, it will go straight to long-off. He also made David Warner come in a bit from long-off and set-up the entire dismissal,” he added.
The move paid dividends soon as Kohli ended up chipping an Agar delivery to David Warner which went a long way in swinging the match in Australia’s favour. The Aussies would ultimately win the match and the series 1-2.