Ex-Australia skipper Mark Taylor wants Steve Smith back in the T20I team, saying that the top-order has a plan that is not right since the departure of David Warner.
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When Australia without Smith was washed out of the Super Eight stage of the Men’s T20 World Cup in June, the right-handed batsman was not included in the 20-over team for the tour of Scotland and England. Australia has decided to bring raw talent Jake-Fraser McGurk into their side, who scored two ducks and a score of 16 in the recent series victory over Scotland.
“I’m interested to see what Australia does from here on with that top order to replace Dave Warner. It seems to be at the moment it’s about putting more and more hitters in there and eventually one of them will come off. I think that’s a bit of a flawed plan because I’d like to see Steve Smith back in our order somewhere,” said Taylor on Nine’s Wide World of Sports show.
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Australia also lost to Afghanistan in the T20 World Cup 21 runs with difficulty in St Vincent and according to Taylor, he said the defeat proved why Australia needed a Smiths like player in the side but he nodded at the idea of future of T20 International with Smith in the squad envisaging the Australian shirt by 2026.
“If or when you get a slow pitch as we did in the recent World Cup, we lost to Afghanistan which forced us out of that World Cup, we needed someone like Steve Smith in that middle order. I still think the better batsmen in the world will bat well in all formats so I just worry about our philosophy that Warner’s out, let’s go with another hitter,”
“I’d still like Australian selectors to think about putting Steve Smith back in the side somewhere to add a bit of stability for a slow pitch. On a flat pitch sure, put all your hitters in and go for it, try and make 200. On a slower pitch, sometimes 150 can be hard to chase as we saw when Australia played Afghanistan in the recent World Cup,” he concluded.