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Confident 'SOK' buoyed by India success

After a star turn for Australia A against Virat Kohli, Steve O'Keefe is ready to help Australia to subcontinent success

Steve O’Keefe is drawing confidence from his subcontinent success against India superstar Virat Kohli as he prepares for Australia’s Test tour of Sri Lanka in July.

O’Keefe joins Nathan Lyon as the second spinner in Australia’s 15-man squad for the three-Test tour, where he will hope to add a third Test match to his appearances in Dubai in 2014 and Sydney earlier this year.

The left-armer reclaimed his position as Australia’s second choice spinner after topping the wicket taking for Australia A across two first-class matches against India A last year, picking up 8-163 in the first game and 6-108 in the second – including the prized scalp of India superstar Kohli.

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"To be able to have that opportunity against the likes of Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane and other good India batters and have success with it is certainly a confidence booster," O’Keefe said in Sydney on Tuesday.

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The 31-year-old made his Test debut against Pakistan in the United Arab Emirates in 2014, where he watched carefully as Pakistan’s spinners consigned Australia to a 2-0 series defeat, taking 30 of the 40 Australian wickets to fall – lessons he was then able to put into practice against Kohli and the remainder of a strong India A line-up in Chennai, where he starred with 14 wickets in two four-day matches.

"I learned a lot from (playing Pakistan in the UAE), particularly the way Zulfiqar Babar bowled over there," O’Keefe said.

"Just the shape of the ball and the speed and how consistent they are in hitting stumps.

"It's a different style of bowling, something I typically wont' bowl in Australia.

"I learned lot. One of the best things was being able to use that when we played the A series in India (last year)."

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Filled with confidence and feeling fitter than ever after an extended preseason handed to him by an untimely broken finger, O’Keefe hopes to see suitably spin-friendly conditions when he arrives on the island nation in less than two months’ time.

"It will be assessing the conditions, but if it is what I expect it to be and similar to those Indian conditions, then I'll certainly be in a better place to be more adaptable I think.

"Typically in Australia you tend to bowl more over the top of the bowl and you're looking at bounce and variations in flight, whereas I think those (Indian) wickets can be more conducive to a squarer seam, a bit rounder, where you sort of guessing whether the ball will slide on or it will turn.

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"And you've got to adapt with the ball.

"I think with the newer ball you will get more of those to slide on and the odd little one that will spin, whereas the ball gets older and softer it will tend to spin more with the odd one sliding on."

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O’Keefe underwent surgery for a broken right index finger in mid-February, but rather than take a holiday in the months since, he instead opted for a rigorous training regime as he looked ahead to Sri Lanka.

"Sri Lanka's what I'm preparing for, in my head," O'Keefe told cricket.com.au earlier this month.

"I wanted to give myself the best opportunity to go away for that tour.

"I'm feeling as fit as I was four or five years ago. When I was in my early twenties I thought it was plain sailing because I didn't get too many injuries, but now more so than ever it's important to get my body right.

"So I've used this time to train physically and work a lot on my cricket."

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