Steve Smith has been a decorated player in the Australian setup, considered in the fab 4 of Virat, Williamson, Root and himself it was a shocking decision to leave Steve Smith out in such conditions in the Caribbean given his prowess against spin and ability to bat on slow wickets.
To dominate the game on slow and turning wickets, former Australian captain Mark Taylor believes the national team required a player akin to Steven Smith in their T20 World Cup 2024 roster. Taylor thinks the right-hander can counter the spinning ball more skillfully than most Australian players.
Australia’s bright future for the T20 World Cup in 2024 was ruined by a devastating defeat to Afghanistan in Kingstown. Only Glenn Maxwell reached the fifty-score threshold as the previous champions faltered under duress, needing to score 149 to win. Australia has failed to qualify for the semi-finals which is a very rare sight in an ICC event.
Dropping Steve Smith Was A Wrong Call
Mark Taylor Speaking to Wide World of Sports, said:
“I still think Australia should have picked Steve Smith and I thought that when they first left him out of the squad. If you look at the Afghanistan game, when you get a slow, turning wicket as they did, I would want Steve Smith in my side. He has the tools to play well in those conditions more than most players in that Australian side, if not all of them.”
“That’s where I think Australia missed out. Smith batting anywhere from four to seven would have been better than the players that we had on a slow, turning wicket. If you get those sorts of surfaces, you want players who are good batters and not just necessarily good hitters,” he added.
The selectors did not choose Steve Smith because he performed poorly by playing a variety of positions prior to the World Cup and by not participating in the IPL 2024. Rather, they proceeded with Tim David and Marcus Stoinis, although both players were ineffective in pivotal games.
50-50 Call On Fraser McGurk
The young man from New South Wales claimed it made little difference to the outcome that Australia continued to back David Warner rather than calling up Jake Fraser-McGurk.
“With the Fraser-McGurk and Warner thing, I think that was a 50/50 call. You could have gone either way and mounted a good case either way on who should play,” he said.
After the match, Warner announced his retirement from all international cricket competitions after scoring just nine runs in his final two innings.
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