In recent times, the batting form of the world number 3 Test batsman, Steve Smith has been a topic of discussion since the start of the 4-match series between India and Australia. However, managed to score just 10 runs from the starting 4 innings of the Test as India off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin literally planned his dismissal on 2 out of 3 occasions. On the other occasion, Jasprit Bumrah rattled his leg stump when he tried to shuffle across in his traditional fashion.
Nothing was going well for Smith ahead of the Sydney Test when he exhibited confidence through his body language after his arrival in the middle to join his pupil Marnus Labuschagne. Ashwin tried to create pressure straight away and gave a deliberate single to bring Smith on strike. The idea was to create an opportunity to bowl five balls at the talismanic batsman. However, Smith navigated through it handsomely and also succeeded in collecting few boundaries.
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However, former Indian skipper, Sunil Gavaskar, the first batsman to score 10,000 runs in Test cricket, said that Steve Smith was one of the greatest batsmen the world has ever seen.
Talking about smith during a chat on Sony Sports, Sunil Gavaskar said, “You can see that from the body language. He was looking to step down the pitch every time Ashwin gave the ball a little bit of air and he was quite happy to play the ball towards the on the side with the turn, he was leaning more into the drive, so more control over the ball and was keeping it along the ground.”
He further added, “Once he got that mid-wicket boundary he got a lot more confident. He is one of the greatest batsmen the world has seen, a different method than you would expect, not quite orthodox but consistency and amount of runs he has scored is phenomenal.”
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In 2020, Smith played only 3 Tests, scoring 73 runs at an average of 18.25 but he looks to start 2021 with a bang. On Friday, the right-hander will look to score his first Test century after September 2019.
