Not in bad place with my captaincy, insists Steve Smith

Kolkata (West Bengal) [India], Sept. 20 (ANI): Australia captain Steve Smith on Wednesday asserted that he was not in a bad place with his captaincy as suggested by former skipper Michael Clarke.

Australia didn't start their limited-overs tour on a good note as they lost by 26 runs via Duckworth-Lewis method in the rain-curtailed first ODI of the five-match series at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai last Sunday.

Clarke on Tuesday had said that Smith was facing a challenging time in his leadership.

Speaking on the eve of the second match to be played at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata, Smith said, "I don't think I'm in a bad place with my captaincy."

"Obviously, results haven't been the way we would have liked for a little while and something that we are trying to rectify, but, you know, guys are working harder to get in out in the middle and ensuring that we are getting the job done out there."

"Obviously it has been a disappointing start to the series the other day, but, you know, we have got another game tomorrow to try and turn things around," he added.

The 28-year-old further exuded confidence on his players and said that they are capable of making a comeback in the series.

"We have got Starc (Mitchell Starc), Hazlewood (Josh Hazlewood) and Finch (Aaron Finch) as well, so two of the top bowlers, but I have told the guys that opened the other day, Coulter (Nathan Coulter Nile) and Cummins (Pat Cummins) were exceptional up top and it's a good opportunity for the guys to put their hand on," he said.

"We still believe in these guys, we think they've got a lot of talent and we have got to think that they can hopefully challenge India in the next couple of games," he added.

The Australians were restricted to training indoors on Tuesday after a bout of rain and overcast conditions kept the Eden Gardens under covers throughout the day.

India were also forced to cancel its scheduled training session in the evening due to the underfoot conditions and the weather.

However, Smith remained hopeful of having a full 50-over game at the iconic stadium.

"We will turn up tomorrow and expect to be playing 50 overs and if things change from there, then we got to adapt and do what needs to be done," he said. (ANI)