Steve Smith took the leadership role from Pat Cummins in the third Test match, after Australia’s regular skipper went back home due to his mother’s illness. Smith’s captaincy worked as a blessing in disguise for the Aussies as they won the third game at Indore by nine wickets.
Former Australian skipper, Mark Taylor raised doubts about Smith’s form following his lean run in the Border Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) 2023. Taylor added that the star Australian batter could arrive at a decision about his future at the end of the next home season.
Taylor believes Smith’s future depends on how Australian performance-
“It’s always hard to read Steve. He’s not one of those guys that’s driven by stats,” Taylor said. “He’s driven by the enjoyment he gets by trying to make as many runs as he can, and obviously winning Test matches,”
“If the side is playing well and he feels like he’s enjoying his batting, he’ll keep playing. But I also suspect the moment that stops, he might just say, ‘That will do me,” said the former Australian cricketer to Wide World of Sports.
Pat Cummins will remain home following the death of his mother, Steve Smith will captain the ODI team after 5 years #INDvAUShttps://t.co/Krzl6X1qLi pic.twitter.com/txld1hjqSD
— ESPNcricinfo (@ESPNcricinfo) March 14, 2023
The 33-year-old failed to cross the 40-run mark in an inning in the recently concluded BGT 2023, with his highest score of 38 coming in the final match in Ahmedabad. The New South Wales (NSW) batter, averages nearly 60 in his longer format of the career but in the recently concluded test series in India, the right-handed batter had only 29 average with 145 runs in seven innings.
“It’s always hard to read Steve. He’s not one of those guys that’s driven by stats,” Taylor said. “He’s driven by the enjoyment he gets by trying to make as many runs as he can, and obviously winning Test matches,” he further added.
“If the side is playing well and he feels like he’s enjoying his batting, he’ll keep playing. But I also suspect the moment that stops, he might just say, ‘That will do me,” concluded Taylor.
Before the final Test in Ahmedabad, the middle-order batter doubted he could play another Test match in India in future tours especially for the 2027 series, as he will be 37 then.
Australia will play India in the World Test Championship (WTC) Final in England on June 7, as Men in Blue won the recently conducted BGT 2023 by a 2-1 margin. While Smith will be seen leading the visitors in the upcoming ODI series against team India starting on March 17 at Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.