Will Steve Smith open the batting in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024? Aussie batter responds

Pratyusha Bhawar

Smith took over the vacant opener slot following the retirement of David Warner and featured in the role for over four Tests.

Australia star cricketer Steve Smith will pad up to open the innings for Australia in the five matches of the Test series against India set to take place at the end of the year after taking over the responsibility from the retired David Warner. In his first four Test matches, Steve Smith, as an opening batter, has not had the best time, with the bat averaging just 28.5. However, Smith doesn’t seem worried about his poor form in Test cricket.

The 35-year-old cricketer revealed that he is not fussed in any way about his poor form as the opener in the red-ball game. The stylish right-handed batter revealed that he faces challenges initially with the new ball, but he aims to score more runs on his home soil. In addition to this, Smith recalled how he couldn’t guide his side to win the second Test match against the West Indies at the Gabba in Brisbane despite scoring great runs in that Test match, ending the series by 1-1 against the Windies.

“You’ll have to ask the men in charge but I’m not fussed either way. That’s the game sometimes but I played pretty well in the second innings at the Gabba where we couldn’t get over the line, unfortunately. It’s just a position to me so it doesn’t really faze me too much,” Smith was quoted as saying by Code Sports.

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While Steve Smith wasn’t part of Australia’s T20 World Cup 2024, the former Aussie captain was going from the lack of opportunities in the T20Is. The swashbuckling batter just got to play four matches in the shortest format of the game. Smith also went unsold in the IPL 2024 auction after his poor form in the ODI World Cup 2023 in Indian home soil conditions.

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In the same vein, he has recently opened up about his snub from the team as well. The star batter revealed that he was extremely disappointed when selectors didn’t place him in the squad but later accepted that the team management was looking for big hitters in the 2024 T20 World Cup. Notably, Mitchell Marsh and his men failed to place themselves in the semi-finals after Afghanistan and India thrashed them in the Super Eight fixture.