Former Indian batsman Gautam Gambhir said that Indian captain Virat Kohli is far better batsman than Australian player Steve Smith. Gambhir says, 'Kohli is much better than him in terms of white ball cricket. There is no comparison between the two. Gambhir said this ahead of the ODI series between India and Australia. On Smith, Gambhir said, "I want to see what number Smith will bat in this series. Will they send Smith to number 4 or make him bat at number 3 and send Labushagne to number 4."

Gambhir also praised Indian bowlers Bumrah and Shami, he said, "I am really excited to see how these two boys bowl against top batsmen like David Warner and Aaron Finch on flat wickets in white ball cricket. The good thing is that they have speed. Through this, they can get wickets with the wind." The former opener said, "It will be great to see both (Shami and Bumrah) bowling one after the other. However, it is a bit unfortunate that Shami did not play in the World Cup semi-finals. It was probably the worst decision taken during the entire World Cup."

Gambhir also raised concerns about the batting of the Indian middle order during this series. He said, "Australian bowlers like Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood would trouble the players at number 5, 6 and 7. You may have scored in front of Sri Lanka or Bangladesh, but this task will not be so easy in front of such a strong opposition team. So everything will depend on how the top four batsmen of the playing eleven perform. "