Stand-in Australian skipper Steven Smith is Sportzwiki’s player of the week. On December 15th, Smith was appointed the Australian Test captain as Michael Clarke injured his right hamstring and had to go for an operation for that. So here was Smith, set to become the 45th Test captain for Australia on December 17th in the second Test against India at Gabba.
Smith’s first day at the captaincy helm did not start off well but the second day, his experience of captaining the Sydney Sixers in Big-Bash League came into the picture. Some smart bowling changes accompanied with clever field placements restricted India to 408, after they were 311/4 at the end of the first day.
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In reply, Australia were struggling at 249-6 and skipper Smith and Mitchell Johnson were at the crease. With still 159 runs behind, Smith played a captain’s innings and alongwith Johnson took Australia to a huge total of 505, with a lead of 97 runs. Smith scored 133 runs off 191 balls with 13 fours and 2 sixes. The thing that was pleasing was that Smith possessed a composed head during when Australia was on the verge of the first innings trail.
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On day four of the match when Australia needed quick wickets to create a mess in India’s dressing room, Smith persisted with the out of form Johnson and he too didn’t his captain. Johnson picked up the wick ets of India’s Adelaide Test hero Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane and Rohit Sharma in quick succession, leaving India in deep trouble. Later on, Johnson wrapped up Umesh Yadav to finish with 4 wickets in the innings and the match. It can be said that it was because of Smith’s backing and confidence that Johnson came back into form handsomely.
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With 128 runs needed to win the match, Smith again showed maturity as he put on 60 runs for the 4th wicket with Chris Rogers as Australia had lost David Warner and Shane Watson cheaply. This partnership proved vital as Australia won the match by 4 wickets and went two-nil up in the series. Smith scored 28 runs off 39 balls during the chase.
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All in all, it is fair to say that Steven Smith deserves to be the player of the week because of the 161 runs he scored and the cool captaincy head he showed in this match.
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