Steve Smith Finds Lost Touch After Dismal IPL 2020 Outing
Nov 24, 2020 at 12:29 PM
Steve Smith seemed to have found his rhythm back ahead of Australia’s home Tests, ODIs and T20Is against India. The 31-year-old wasn’t in the best of rhythms during the recently concluded 2020 Indian Premier League (IPL), but he has been coming back into shape ahead of the international fixtures by training hard at nets. In the IPL, he had a nightmarish outing after his team Rajasthan Royals (RR) finished at the bottom of the points table.
However, some adjustments to his batting technique at training nets have helped him immensely. The New South Wales-born features in all three squads and being one of the best batsmen in the world, a lot would be expected of him going forward against a strong bowling line-up of India.
Steve Smith: Really Excited To Finding Lost Touch Again After Training
In 73 Tests, Smith averages 62.84 while in 125 ODIs he averages 42.46. He has 26 tons in Tests with a top score of 239. His Test batting average is 3rd (played at least 20 Test innings) after legendary Australian Sir Don Bradman‘s 99.94 and teammate Marnus Labuschagne‘s 63.43. The latter though has played in only 14 Tests and will look to score big against India too.
“I had a big smile on my face after training the other day, I walked past (men’s team assistant coach) Andrew McDonald and said ‘I’ve found them again’,” Smith was quoted as saying to cricket.com.au while speaking on his ‘missing’ hands.
“I was really excited. Theoretically, it is a simple thing, but it is just getting that feel and the look of the bat behind my toe the right way and the way my hands come up on the bat. It’s hard to explain but it just hasn’t quite been right until probably two days ago and I found a little something and everything just clicked in,” he stated.
Assistant coach Andrew McDonald played 4 Tests for Australia. In October 2019, he was appointed as assistant coach to Justin Langer with Australian national cricket team.
Steve Smith Disappointed With Batting Throughout IPL As He Wasn’t Consistent
In the IPL, Steve Smith started with a couple of fifties, guiding Rajasthan Royals to victories. But from there on, he went into the slump and it rubbed off negatively on his team’s performance as well. In 14 innings during the tournament, the right-hander managed only 311 runs averaging 25.91 with 3 fifties.
“I was pretty disappointed with my batting throughout the IPL. From my standards, I wasn’t consistent enough. I had a few innings here and there, but I never got into a really good rhythm. I got a bit caught up with trying to be a bit too powerful and that’s not quite my game,” Smith added.
Steve Smith doesn’t consider himself as a big-hitting batsman, who can clear the ropes at will. Rather, he prefers to manoeuvre the field and play ‘proper cricketing shots’ to get runs. Steve Smith is currently ICC’s number one ranked Test batsman.