Former Australian cricketer Shane Watson has backed out-of-form Steve Smith to return to his form with the bat in the upcoming 2024-25 Border-Gavaskar Trophy. Watson also stated that Smith was wrong with his technique because of which he failed to do well as an opener. He also added that Smith at his very best would love scoring big regardless of the batting position as well.
Watson told Willow Talk Cricket Podcast (via The Times of India), “Steve wanted to open. He was super keen to take up a new challenge. But one thing with that opportunity he had was he wasn’t actually batting at his best at that time. So he got an opportunity to open and Steve Smith at his very best would have made the most out of it because he just loves scoring runs whether it is opening or at No. 4. You could see a few times he got out when he was opening — his game and his technique was a little bit off,” he added.
Shane Watson also added that Steve Smith, in his opinion, returned to his very best during the ODI series against Pakistan as well. He scored 44 and 35 in his two outings.
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Watson said in the same interaction: “In the one-day series (against Pakistan), in one of the innings at the MCG — wow, it looked like the very best of him. He had so much time and had all the shots. I’m confident that Smith will bring that version of him into this summer and whether he bats at No. 4 or opening, he will score runs.”
Shane Watson also warns Australia not to trigger star India batter Virat Kohli in 2024-25 BGT
“The one thing that I know about Virat Kohli is because he’s the fire burning so brightly and deeply inside of him, the intensity that he brings to every ball that he is engaging in a game has been superhuman. But there have been moments in his career when that fire started to go out because it is so hard to maintain that intensity. That is where the Australian team needs to leave him alone, and hope that he doesn’t bring that intensity. If he brings that, then that just shuts everything out, and that’s when he will be at his very best. But if stuff is going on and that intensity is not there, then you see that not the best version of Virat,” he added.
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“Because he hasn’t got runs against New Zealand, he’ll be very, very hungry. Even in that Adelaide Test match, wherein the second innings we got all out for 36, in the first innings, Kohli got 70 plus, if I recall correctly, before being run out. He’s consistently performed at Adelaide, so it’s a familiar ground for him. And before Adelaide, it’s Perth, where he played one of the finest Test centuries in 2018-19. A terrific hundred. Having performed on these grounds, he’ll feel that extra bit of confidence. Of course, you need a bit of luck at the start, but if he gets off to a good start, he will get big runs,” Shane Watson concluded.
