Smith defends captaincy ahead of 100th ODI

On the eve of his 100th one-day international, Steve Smith has defended his captaincy after criticism from predecessor Michael Clarke.

Smith will reach the milestone in Thursday's match against India in Kolkata where Australia will be desperate to level the series at 1-1.

Clarke told Indian media Smith had erred in the opening match in Chennai by not bringing his strike bowlers back on when the home side were 5-87.

"As a batsman, Steve Smith is right up there; I think he and Virat Kohli are the two best batsmen in the world right now," Clarke said.

"I think he and David Warner will be the highest scorers for Australia in this series. But I also think his captaincy is now being challenged."

Coming together with India in dire straits, MS Dhoni and Hardik Pandya took the game away from Australia with the first six overs of their partnership bowled by Marcus Stoinis, Adam Zampa and James Faulkner.

Smith insisted he had gone for the jugular by bringing Nathan Coulter-Nile back into the attack to take a wicket.

"I don't think I'm in a bad place with my captaincy," Smith said.

"It was obviously a disappointing start to the series the other day but we've got another game tomorrow to try and turn things around."

Since making his debut as a promising legspinner in 2010, Smith has evolved into one of the world's most-destructive batsmen.

The 28-year-old said he was still learning the 50-over game.

"I've been batting at No.3 (in ODIs) for a while now," Smith said.

"I had to find the right tempo of the game, whether it's hitting fielders in the deep or knowing the right time to hit a boundary."

Smith counts his century against India in the 2015 World Cup semi-final as his most-memorable ODI innings.

"I think we lost a wicket pretty early and I was able to form a partnership with Finchy (Aaron Finch)," Smith said.

"I'd say that's one of my better one-day hundreds in a big occasion."