Australia’s Steve Smith raises his bat as he celebrates after scoring his century during play on the second day of the fourth cricket test between Australia and India at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, Melbourne, Australia, Friday, Dec. 27, 2024.
| Photo Credit: AP
The long drought and the sudden downpour defines Steve Smith’s forays to the batting crease. While questions lingered about his poor yield, he answered with tons at Brisbane’s Gabba and the Melbourne Cricket Ground in the current Border-Gavaskar Trophy series.
Looking back at his return to runs, Smith told the media on Friday: “You got to trust what you are trying to do. I have played the game long enough to know that you can have ups and downs. There’s a difference between being out of form and out of runs. You need a lot of luck on these wickets to get big runs and last week (at the Gabba) I had my fair share.”
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Reflecting on the fourth Test, the former Australian captain said: “It was obviously a really good partnership (between Virat Kohli and Yashasvi Jaiswal) and to break that one, and then get the two more wickets, it was a huge last hour for us. Looked like Jaiswal called yes, ran, and Virat sent him back.”
Smith lauded his skipper Pat Cummins: “I thought Patty played really nicely. Positive intent. We were able to get a nice partnership together and take a bit of the momentum of the game from that point.”
The batter also felt that Kohli looked set for a big knock: “He is a class player. Obviously, he played well in Perth for that 100. And he looked good today, I thought. It was probably the first ball I think he actually played on that fifth, sixth stump line (when he got out). He was really disciplined and I thought we were in for a bit of a masterclass.”
As for Sam Konstas, Smith exclaimed: “He was reverse ramping (Jasprit) Bumrah and I was having a heart attack up in the box!”
Published – December 27, 2024 04:16 pm IST
