Australian head coach Justin Langer has received a heap of praise from their star batsman Steve Smith amidst criticism for their loss to a bruised and battered Indian team at home.
The Australian team management had come under the scanner after a strong home team were beaten 2-1 against an Indian side, that rose from being 0-1 down and losing their captain at the same time. The Aussie fans and a few experts questioned Justin Langer's skills as a coach.
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The Sydney Morning Herald too released a report stating that some senior players find Langer less approachable than their assistant coach Andrew McDonald. However, an under pressure Justin Langer has the belief of Steve Smith, who is appreciative of the head coach's work with the Australian side over the last couple of years.
Steve Smith told ESPNCricInfo, "Absolutely, I think he's (Langer) done a terrific job over the last couple of years, I wasn't there the first year, but since I've been back I think he's done a great job. He always wants to get better and that's all you can ask of anyone in the setup, whether it be a player or a coach, as long as you're striving to improve every day, then that's all you can ask."
"That kind of thing [split coaching] has been floated for a while for different formats and different teams and things like that around the world, not just Australia, so I think it'd be interesting. But Justin's got my full support at the moment, I think he's doing a terrific job and he has done for a few years, and I can't see it changing anytime soon," he added.
Smith had a terrible time with the bat in the first two Tests against India with scores of 1, 1*, 0 and 8 before he returned to form and scored 303 runs in the next two.
He revealed that teams have been employing various strategies against him and trying to curb his run-scoring. Even India packed the leg side play for the 31-year-old and made him work hard for his runs.
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Smith said, "Teams are starting to attack me a little bit differently or bowl to me a little bit differently, so I've had to make small adjustments. At times I've had to be perhaps a little more aggressive than I have been in the past.
I think I did that pretty well in the last two Test matches here and just coming up with some different plans and different scoring options but continuing to also play the game in front of me."
"There are times in Test cricket where you've got to absorb pressure, a time when you've got to put the pressure back on the bowlers and try and get on top of them, and I did that well in the last two games, perhaps not as well in the first two of the summer."
"I felt I learned a bit out of the first two games that I could improve on at the back end. Teams have different plans to me and I've got to keep working on my game and I love doing that, I love working hard and finding new ways to do things and getting better," Australia's Test no. 4 added.
(With inputs from ANI)
