Australia’s star batsman Steve Smith, who averages 60-plus in the longest format of the game, is enduring a rare failure in the ongoing Test series against India.

In particular, Smith has been troubled by the veteran off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin, who dismissed him cheaply in the first innings at Adelaide and Melbourne.

See Also: Labuschagne admits Australian batsmen falling into Indian bowlers’ trap in first two Tests

Smith has registered scores of 1, 1*, 0 and 8 in the four innings but Australia opener David Warner is not reading too much into it as he believes everyone is allowed a bit of slump in form.

According to Warner, it's more about India bowling well then anything lacking in Smith's approach as the right-hander has left no stone unturned in terms of preparation.

"Steve Smith has been recently knocked off by Kane Williamson as best batter in the world (ICC ranking) but if you look at his numbers, he still averages over 60. Everyone is allowed to have a bit of lack of form and I saw that myself when I was in England (Ashes 2019)," Warner said in a virtual news conference on Saturday (January 2), as quoted by PTI.

"On a day, if you have your name on that delivery, it is what it is and you can't do anything about it. As you can see that it's not due to lack of preparation as the guy (Smith) doesn't get out of nets. He works off his backside all the time," he added.

For the southpaw, the intent and aggression should always be pre-meditated if one wants to unsettle the opposition.

"My 84 Test matches have always been about pre-meditated attacks and it doesn't change for me but it's about how the team looks at it. When I talk about intent, I mean by putting pressure back on the bowlers not just by swinging the bat.

"There are other ways of showing intent which could lead them into bowling those odd full-pitched balls and short of length balls which you can pull or cut. That's what I talk about when I talk about putting pressure on bowlers.

"It's about going out there and playing your shots," said Warner, who has 7244 runs and 24 centuries to his name in Test cricket.

Warner has noted that Australian batsmen didn't do simple things like "tap and run" in the first two Tests. It is a method, he believes, creates pressure on the opposition.

"Lengths are key to Australian wickets and they have been hitting some nice lengths as I heard from some of the guys. Drive on the up and drop and run and apply that pressure, some of that was missing.

"You can't allow great attacks to dictate terms to you as batsmen. It has its challenges by all means but you have got to play outside the square (out of box) and be a little bit brave.

"I would rather go out there swinging than sitting back on the crease. If I am able to go out there, I will try and have that intent like I always have," Warner remarked.

While the groin injury ruled him out of the T20I series and the first two Tests against India, Warner counts it as a blessing as it helped him spend some time with his young family amid the global COVID-19 pandemic.

"It was unfortunate enough that I got injured but I was always going to have that time off. In my situation with three kids and a wife and having not seen them, it was a no-brainer, trying to have that time off.

"At the end of this series, we get a couple of weeks off, if we are not playing the BBL and then back in the bubble. How long we don't know and if we have that vaccine coming along, then we will have a lot of things in the air," he said.

(With PTI inputs)