Australian cricket team’s management did one experiment as Steve Smith opened the batting along with Matthew Short. Cricket Australia’s (CA) chief selector George Bailey would be happy after seeing Steve Smith smashing a half century but at the same time, he wasn’t been able to dictate the terms which hurt the mighty Aussies as scoring 52 runs in 41 balls isn’t a good score (*Smith’s tally).
Steve Smith was seen struggling to clear the fence. Perhaps, Smith should bat in the middle order as he is someone who can provide stability to the team in the middle overs phase. It won’t be wrong to say that Aussies were 15-20 runs behind due to Smith’s knock as in the end. It would be interesting to see whether Smith grabs eyeballs of IPL franchises in the auction which is in December 2023.
There are chances that David Warner might feature in the 2nd T20I match which is on 26th November. The duo of Smith & Warner can be deadly on the given day as Smith is considered to be a long term option at the top of the order by Cricket Australia (CA). All eyes though would be on Matthew Wade as his tactics in the opening T20I match were top notch as he almost won the game for Aussies.
I don’t see Steve Smith making a big impact in T20s- Aakash Chopra
Aakash Chopra was seen speaking on his You Tube channel. Aakash Chopra stated that Steve Smith needs to up the ante and made a huge statement that Smith can’t make a big impact in T20s. Aakash Chopra pointed out that Smith is a great player and questioned whether is he a long term T20 player for Australia.
“I am slightly 50-50 in my mind about Steve Smith – good or bad. He continued playing at a run-a-ball for a long time. He started very well but then he was a run-a-ball. Is he a long-term T20 player for Australia – I am not going to decide on that. It doesn’t make a difference to me,” said Aakash Chopra.
“He is too good a player and such players find a way. They have new ways of upgrading their game. However, based on what we saw in the first match in Vizag, one thing is clear that he needs pace. He is a great player but I don’t see him making a big impact in T20s,” he added.