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Australia batting great Steve Smith hit back at critics after his heroics at the second Test against West Indies. After former Australia opener David Warner called it quits on his Test career, Smith was brought up the standings and promoted to the opener. However, his promotion as the opener for his side wasn’t easy and it came with several rough patches before making a smooth transition.
In his first three innings as the opener, Smith scored 2, 11 not out and six, respectively. Despite the difficulties, Smith said that he didn’t doubt himself after moving up the order. He was quoted by Cricbuzz as saying, “There was a lot of commentary around I’d failed in two or three innings – I had a not-out and two low scores. Now I’m averaging 60 as an opener. It was just another position; I’ve battled against the new ball numerous times, coming in early.”
He added, “I’ve enjoyed the first couple of weeks of it..if they see fit to move me back down, I’ll do whatever the team needs.”
He's a rare talent: Smith praises Shamar Joseph
The Aussie great heaped praise on West Indies’ emerging sensation Shamar Joseph for his heroics on his debut tour. Smith said, "I overheard a conversation, I think we were seven down just before lunch and I overheard him speaking to Kraigg (Brathwaite) ... he's like, 'I'm bowling to the end, man’. He's a rare talent and I think it's great for cricket what he was able to do and see the West Indies competing like they did. He just kept coming in, and actually probably bowled faster at the end rather than the start."
Talking about losing the match by eight runs, Smith said, “I've thought about it, whether we could do different things. Maybe I could have taken five balls against Shamar; he was on fire obviously. But then I run the risk of not getting a run off the last ball and 'Hoff' having to take all six from Alzarri." Notably, Smith is set to lead his side for the ODI series against West Indies, commencing on February 2, Friday.
