It was not the best of starts for Steve Smith in the Test series against India as he struggled to find the middle of his bat in the first innings of the Adelaide Test when R Ashwin was looking good with the pink ball.

Smith struggled for 28 deliveries scoring just 1 run before edging one to Ajinka Rahane in the slips off Ashwin.

The reporters felt that the Australian batting star had prepared a lot against India's pace battery and asked Steve Smith whether that was the reason for his downfall against India's only spinner.

He doesn't believe that was the fact and marked it as a one-off ocassion where he nicked one because Ashwin made him believe that the ball would turn but it didn't.

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Smith told ANI, "No (when asked about if his dismissal was a case of preparing too hard for the pace battery of India), I just knicked one that didn’t spin, unfortunately, that happens sometimes. I thought it was pretty well bowled, to be honest. The two balls prior spun a bit and got a bit grip of the wicket and the next one was kind of sidespin which skidded off. I didn’t play as well as I would have liked. It was some decent bowling."

"Playing in Australia and playing in India is a bit different, the ball doesn’t spin as much as it spins in India. He is a good bowler, he has played a lot of cricket now. He is a world-class performer," he added.

He further went on to appreciate R Ashwin for his skills he puts on display in tough conditions in Australia where the spinners don't get as much off the pitch as they get in the subcontinent.

While the tweaker has adapted well to the foreign conditions, Smith is hopeful of preparing in a better way against Ashwin and playing him well in the second match.

"I know he got the better of me the other day, hopefully, I will learn something and move forward. And play him a little bit better in the next game,” Smith said.

(With inputs from ANI)