Australian cricketer Steve Smith expressed that loves to captain in India. He was the stand-in skipper for the third Test against India at the Holkar Stadium in India in the 2023 Border Gavaskar Trophy. The visitors won the test comfortably by nine wickets, to make a comeback in the four-match Test series.
Australia was two down heading into the third Test. However, the win at Indore will boost their confidence and has also sealed their spot in the World Test Championship final. Steve Smith took the charge of the test as Pat Cummins was unavailable. Smith expressed that their performance indicates their talent and belief in the team. He said as quoted by NDTV,
“They are pretty hard to come by. For us to get on top in this game particularly after losing the toss, it shows the talent in our group and the belief we have got in ourselves.”
“We screwed it up in Delhi, letting that slip, but we had a good break and good preparation coming here. It was about getting our mental state right, was about trusting ourselves and our methods. It was about having faith that we will succeed and taking the result out of play,” he added.
Steve Smith further also spoke about qualifying for the World Test Championship final.
“We are pleased to have qualified for the final of the World Test Championship, which has obviously been on our radar for a little while. To tick that off is worth celebrating for this team,” said Steve Smith.
Captaining back home is much easier: Steve Smith
Australian skipper Steve Smith further expressed that captaining in India is like a game of chess. He added that it’s his favorite place in the world to lead. The right-hander also opined that leading in Australia is easy, but in India, the captain has to be proactive. He said,
“Look, India is a part of the world I love captaining. It’s a game of chess, every ball means something. It’s good fun moving people and trying to make the batter think and something different and just playing games with them. India is probably my favorite place in the world to captain. Captaining back home is much easier.”
“You think back home in Australia, you generally play with a third slip or putting a square leg up or back or pulling a third slip to cover… there’s not much that goes on, you sort of stick to the same game plan and trust what you are trying to do there,” Smith added.
“In this part of the word, you have to be very proactive. Every ball is an event and that ball can dictate what happens the ball after. Something that I really love. I thought I did it well this week and it was good fun,” the Aussie concluded.
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