Steve Smith and Rohit Sharma
IND vs AUS, Indore Test: Australia’s regular captain Pat Cummins has returned home due to his mother’s health being serious. Because of this, Steve Smith has been handed over the captaincy of the team in the third Test of the Border Gavaskar Trophy 2023 starting from March 1 in Indore. Let us tell you that Smith was appointed as the vice-captain of Australia’s Test team at the end of 2021. After ball tampering in 2018, he was banned for one year and lifetime captaincy, which was lifted in 2021. After his comeback, Smith played two Test matches as captain and both the matches were in the absence of regular captain Pat Cummins. This will be the third such occasion.
Steve Smith’s captaincy record in Test cricket is excellent. The special thing is that since he has returned, he has taken command of the Australian team in red ball cricket twice. On both the occasions, under his captaincy, the Kangaroo team has also won. In the 2022 Ashes where he captained Australia to victory in a match. Apart from this, Australia also won the Adelaide Test against the West Indies in December 2022 under his captaincy. That is, whenever Smith has captained after the ball-tampering scandal, the Australian team has won. This figure is enough to alert the Indian team.
Team India will have to be alert
However, the Rohit Sharma-led Indian team has taken an unassailable lead in the ongoing Border Gavaskar Trophy 2023 by winning the first two matches. But in order to reach the final of the World Test Championship, it is necessary for India to win at least one more match. On the other hand, after the return of Smith, the invincible record as captain may turn the tide at the Holkar Stadium in Indore. In such a situation, Team India needs to be careful. The record of the Indian team on this ground is also not weak and the team has won on both the previous occasions. Now for the third time the team will come here to play a Test match against Australia.
steve smith
How is Steve Smith’s captaincy record?
If we look at Steve Smith’s captaincy record, he has captained Australia in a total of 36 Test matches. Out of this, he has won 20 times and lost only 10 matches. 8 matches have also been drawn under his captaincy. That is, his record as captain is 60 percent victory. At the same time, his batting as a captain also becomes excellent. He has scored 3793 runs in 64 innings of 36 matches. His average has been around 68 during this period. Which is the best average as captain after Sir Don Bradman (101.51). That is, as a captain, Smith not only wins, but also takes the news of the opposing bowlers. But his performance in the current series has been disappointing. Now it has to be seen whether he can play according to his figures in Indore or will again get caught in the spin of Indian spin.