Former Australian captain Mark Taylor has fully credited Indian bowlers for restricting Steve Smith to score runs. He doesn’t believe that Australia’s batting mainstay is out of form but rather feels that the visitors had more perfect plans for him to get his wicket early.
On two out of four innings, Ravichandran Ashwin had dominated against Steve Smith. The batsman was unsure as to how to play the leg-spinner and as a result, lost his wicket two times against him. In the first innings of the second Test, Ashwin sent back Smith for a duck. It was the first-ever first-innings duck in Test cricket for the unorthodox players. And thus, it has been marked as one of the worst Test innings for Smith at his home.
I do not believe Steve Smith is in a form slump: Mark Taylor
Mark Taylor stated that Indian bowlers had been much disciplined than other bowlers while bowling against Steve Smith. They have suffocated Smith to score runs which had given them his wickets.
“I do not believe Smith is in a form slump. His stance, the idiosyncrasies, these are all things that have made him a great batsman. The main difference to me is the opposition’s plans have worked for the first time in years. There’s not much more to it than that.”
“What India has done better than most sides maintain a more disciplined line, and restricted his ability to score.”
Mark Taylor advise Smith:
The former Aussie player has suggested Smith not play defensive cricket rather than work on ruining the visitors’ plan against him. He added that the unconventional batsman should be more aggressive in his batting approach, as the Indian pace attack wears a depleted look due to the absence of Mohammed Shami and Umesh Yadav.
“I would like to see him be more aggressive and force India to change their approach, bearing in mind the visitors’ fast-bowling stocks are being tested because of injuries to Mohammed Shami and Umesh Yadav. As well as Mohammed Siraj bowled on debut in Melbourne, it’s a big ask to expect a Test newcomer to hold such high standards so early in his career.”
Mark Taylor proceeded to elaborate on what he meant by ‘aggressive’, urging Steve Smith to be watchful early on and try to rotate the strike like his teammate did in the last two Tests.
“When I say aggressive, I’m not urging Smith to play a risky shot to find the boundary, which is the school of thought for many modern players. He just needs to rotate the strike more – something I feel only Marnus Labuschagne has done well for Australia this series,” Mark Taylor concluded.
The third Test of the four-match series will be played in Sydney beginning on January 7.