Australia’s stand-in skipper, Steve Smith has revealed that he has no ambitions of becoming Australia’s full-time Test captain once again after he led a stunning fightback from the tourists in the 3rd Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy series against India in Indore. Australia was down 0-2 and not many gave them a chance to avoid a 4-0 whitewash in India after they were blown away in the first two Tests in Nagpur and Delhi.
However, Australia, under stand-in captain Steve Smith, registered a dominating 9-wicket win over India, finishing the 3rd Test in Nagpur within 7 sessions. On a pitch that was rated poor by the International Cricket Council, Australia fought fire with fire to pull one back and retain their hopes of leveling the series.
Notably, Smith had led Australia in Tests from 2014 to 2018, but he was sacked from the role after his involvement in the ball-tampering scandal in 2018. Smith served a one-year ban and a two-year captaincy ban before Australia considered him for leadership roles again. Smith was named Cummins’s deputy ahead of the Ashes.
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While stressing that India is one of his favorite places to lead in the world, Steve Smith clarified that Pat Cummins is still the leader of the Australian Test team. After the game, he said “My time is done. It’s Pat’s team now. I’ve obviously been able to stand in this week, obviously in tough circumstances with Patty going home. Our thoughts are still with him back home.”
He further added, “Every ball is an event and therefore can dictate what happens after, which is something that I really love and you’ve got to be ahead of the game. “So I thought I did it well this week and it was good fun.”
Smith led Australia on their 2017 trip to India. The star batter was sensational as the leader of the touring side that gave Virat Kohli-led India a run for their money. Australia lost 2-1 but they fought hard against the Indian side. Smith had led from the front, scoring 399 runs in 4 Tests, including 3 centuries.
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Smith is likely to lead Australia in the 4th Test of the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy as Cummins is expected to spend more time with his family. Australia will take on India in the final Test on March 9 after which the two teams will meet in a 3-match ODI series.
