Veteran Australian batter Steve Smith expressed his delight to be open the batting for Australia in T20 cricket starting from the South Africa T20 series with an eye to the 2024 T20 World Cup. The 34-year-old found himself out of the playing 11 due to his poor form in T20 Internationals.
Steve Smith has been an exceptional player for Australia across all three formats of the game and was an instrumental figure in Australia’s 2015 ODI World Cup triumph on home soil and was also part of the Australian team in the 2021 T20 World Cup and is slated to open the batting for Australia following his impressive performance in Big Bash League.
Speaking to the SEN 1170’s The Run Home, Steve Smith was happy to take up the chance to open the batting for the Aussies, as he is ready to adapt to bat at the top of the order for the team and is confident of doing well in T20 cricket taking confidence from the Big Bash League and wants to take up the opportunity to perform well for the team
“They said they were going to give me an opportunity up the top a couple of weeks ago. It was something I jumped at, I haven’t done a great deal of it,”
“It was something I did in the Big Bash, I had a bit of success up there. It’s the place you want to bat, probably, in T20 cricket or white-ball cricket altogether. I’m getting the opportunity and hopefully, I can take it with both hands,” Steve Smith said.
The veteran has been renowned as a big match player for the Aussies in the ICC event, providing some vital runs for the team in crucial moments of the game, and will look to take up the role of the opener in the team to seal his place for the 2024 T20 World Cup in the USA and West Indies.
Mitchell Marsh will lead the Australian T20 team for the three-match series against South Africa starting on August 30. Cricket Australia is looking at the Australian all-rounder as the full-time option to lead the team going into the T20 World Cup next year.