New Delhi [India], August 20 (ANI): Australia batter Steven Smith is open to batting at any position ahead of the upcoming Border Gavaskar Trophy against India.
Since David Warner brought the curtain down on his illustrious Test career, Australia promoted Smith to the opening slot.
However, since his promotion, he has had a mixed bag of performances at the opening slot. The 35-year-old has racked up 171 runs at an average of 28.50 in four Test appearances, including a magnificent 91 against the West Indies.
But for Smith, the batting position is “just a number.”
“The conversations I’ve had so far is that we’ll go to England. I’m there for the one-dayers, then make a decision after that. There are conversations happening in the background. You see some comments that guys like Usman [Khawaja] has said he likes me down at No. 4, think Marnus is of a similar thought pattern. We’ll wait and see. I’m happy to bat anywhere,” he said, as quoted from ESPNcricinfo.
“For me, it’s just a position. Batting at four, I could be in after the first two balls. I’ve been in early on many occasions and faced the new ball. For me, it’s kind of just a number. I batted at three for a long period of time as well, and we lost wickets inside the first over, and I’ll come out and score runs. The only real thing I had to get used to was how quick a turnaround it is when you come off the field, and you only have ten minutes, particularly with the amount of mucking around I have in the changing rooms,” he added.
Australia will be eyeing to lift their first Border-Gavaskar title since the 2014-15 2-0 series triumph. Since then, the Baggy Greens have suffered consecutive defeats in series against India on home soil.
Ahead of the series, former Australia captain Ricky Ponting recently questioned whether Smtih is the right man to open for the Baggy Greens.
“Probably the only one question there might be with Australia again is if (Steve) Smith’s the right man to be opening the batting. That would be the only query that I can see there. But that was all about obviously bringing Cameron Green back into the side,” he said in ICC Review.
“So I will rephrase it, not whether Smith’s the right man to open the batting but whether he thinks it is the right spot for him. Because I think if he does not think it is the right spot, then they will make a change and get someone else back up there,” he added.
The five-match Test series will begin on November 2022 at the Perth Stadium. The fifth and final match of the series will start on January 3 in Sydney. (ANI)
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