Smith throws down challenge to Warner

He's a back-to-back Allan Border Medallist but David Warner has already had another challenge presented to him by his Test captain Steve Smith ahead of Australia's forthcoming tour of India.

Warner, who was yesterday named his country's best male cricketer for the 2016 period largely on the back of a record-breaking ODI year, has posted just one of his 18 Test hundreds in Asia, from nine matches played on the continent.

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That hundred came against Pakistan in the United Arab Emirates in 2014, a year in which the left-hander also scored his other three Test centuries on foreign soil – all in South Africa.

The remaining 14 three-figure scores in Warner's glittering career in the Baggy Green have all come in Australia, while he averaged 24.37 across four matches in India in 2013 in his only visit to the country for Test cricket.

Smith insisted that if Australia are to have success in next month's four-match series against the world's No.1-ranked Test nation, the dynamic opening batsmen would have to rectify that blip on his record.

And that would mean not just making hundreds – but cashing in beyond the milestone.

"It's pretty important that our senior players step up in those conditions and take control," Smith told ESPN.

"It's something we didn't do overly well in Sri Lanka (during last year's 3-0 series defeat), and we didn't get the results that we wanted there.

"The senior players – myself, Davey, (Mitchell Starc), Josh (Hazlewood) and Nathan Lyon – need to step up and really take control.

"I'm going to do it differently to Davey; you don't want to get rid of someone's natural flair and the way they play.

"But if he gets to a hundred, it might be about knuckling down again and going big, get 200 or 300, like Karun Nair did (for India against England) a few weeks ago.

Those are the big scores that set your team up."

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Smith also explained there would be a significant shift in attitude among the batting group, describing the previously accepted notion that, given the difficulty of the conditions and the quality of the spinners, batsmen should get their runs as quickly as possible before they receive the unplayable ball that gets them out.

"I think we have been guilty in the past of saying, 'A ball is going to have your name on it, so get them before one gets you," Smith explained.

"To be honest with you, that's rubbish.

"I think if your defence is good and you back that, then the one that has got your name on it generally spins past the bat or does too much.

"So get that out of your mind. It's going to be about backing your defence and making sure you can bat for long enough.

"Everyone in our team has got the shots, but get yourself in – things get easier – and then be willing to go big."

Additional changes to Australia's approach from three failed tours since the landmark success of 2004 also revolve around batting, specifically with regards to preparation and mentality.

Firstly, the touring party will initially base itself in Dubai in order to attune themselves to Indian conditions on similar wickets.

"Batters will try to replicate the conditions we are going to get as much as we can," said Smith of the Dubai experiment.

"Speaking to (former England bowling coach and current Australia assistant coach) David Saker, that's what England did a few years ago when they had success.

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"The bounce you get is more similar to India than anywhere else.

"Hopefully we can get wickets that spin and things like that, and guys can get some good volume in.

"A few of our guys haven't played Test cricket in India before, so they need to find a method they can succeed with; it's so different to here and they need to find the right one for them."

Secondly, Smith is well aware of Australia's recent propensity for capitulation when either conditions don't suit or they fall behind in a Test; as dramatic collapses during the home summer, and in Sri Lanka before that, underlined.

The skipper believes greater application at the crease – even, or particularly, when the cause is lost – is the solution.

"Obviously you want to win first and foremost, but a draw is a much better result than a loss," he added.

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"If the game is dead and buried and we can't win, you want to see the fight and the willingness to put your natural game away and do everything you can to stay out there and get the team a draw.

"That is something we haven't done overly well in the past.

"When we are a long way behind the game and chasing 500 or something in the last innings, guys have still just gone out and played (naturally), rather than do what Faf (du Plessis) did at Adelaide a few years ago and just block it and give yourself a chance to survive."