With a Test average of 61.46 and 19 centuries, Smith has proved that style shouldn’t come before effectiveness
Australia captain Steven Smith plays a defensive shot during Day Two of the second Test against India in Ranchi yesterday. Pic/AFP
Everything that Steven Smith does while batting has an abnormality to it. The twitching, fiddling of all the equipment, the clenching of his top and bottom lip, the stance and then finally the bat swing that starts from gully.
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Add to that, most of his body weight is pre-dominantly on his right leg and rarely does he brace his front knee even when he makes a stride forward. As the bowler stands on top of his mark he must feel there are so many chinks in his armour that can be exposed. But after 52 Test matches, Smith continues to marvel the cricketing world with his unorthodox ways.
Yesterday, he stayed unbeaten on 178 as Australia piled up 451 on Day Two of the third Test versus India at the Jharkhand State Cricket Association (JSCA)âu00c2u0080u00c2u0088Stadium.
Asked how tricky it can be for a bowler to work out a plan to such an unorthodox player, India’s pace spearhead Umesh Yadav said, “It can be difficult bowling to someone like Smith because the way you are thinking about executing a particular plan suddenly changes when you are about to deliver the ball.
“He shuffles across from leg-stump to off and he really opens up so it does pose a problem because it’s against what you are naturally thinking when you are coming to bowl at a batsman,” added Umesh.
Smith, by now must have driven video analysts and bowling coaches around the world mad. Every time they find the tiniest of flaws, Smith manages to outsmart them.
He looks like a leg before wicket candidate every ball he plays, but only 17 per cent of his dismissals are LBWs.
If India thought their spinners could get Smith stumped because of his tendency to dance down the wicket to play the tweakers, the hosts were in for a big surprise. Smith neutralised the Indian spinners in this series by taking guard deep inside the crease and playing predominately off the back foot. With a career Test average of 61.46 and 19 centuries, Smith has already proved that dismissing an unconventional batsmen can often be the hardest task.
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