The veteran Australian batsman, Steve Smith is prepared to sacrifice featuring in the Twenty20 World Cup as well as the 2021 edition of the Indian Premier League this year to stay fit for the Ashes series against England, with the star batsmen making clear Test cricket is his first priority. The former Australian skipper pulled out of their current limited-overs tour of the West Indies owing to an elbow injury and said recovery was proving a slow process.
As per the quotes in cricket.com.au., Steve Smith said, “There’s still a bit of time between now and (the World Cup), and I’m tracking okay at the moment — it’s slow, but I’m going okay. I’d love to be part of the World Cup, for sure. But from my point of view, Test cricket, that’s my main goal — to be right for the Ashes and try to emulate what I’ve done in the last few Ashes series I’ve been involved in.”
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During the last Ashes series in 2019, Steve Smith was the standout performer, as he smashed 774 runs in four Tests, at an average of 110.57, including twin centuries on his Test return at Edgbaston. It underlines how crucial he will be to Australia over the five-match Test series due to get underway on December 8 in Brisbane.
Describing the same, Steve Smith said, “I want to put myself in a position where I can have that kind of impact. If that does mean not partaking in the World Cup, then we’ll have to go down that path, but hopefully, we don’t have to go there.”
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Talking about his injury, Steve Smith said, “I’ve made a bit of progress with it the last few weeks. I started some batting, just 10 minutes at a time, and basically my path now to getting back to playing is building up from there. Currently, that’s where I’m at — 15 minutes — and I’ve got to build up to 45 to get myself to a point where the medicos believe I can be comfortable.”
Notably, 2021 IPL will resume during the September-October window in the UAE.
