Steve Smith says it’s unlikely he will be back for another Indian series
Steve Smith says he will take it one day at a time when he thinks about his Test match future as he aims to lead Australia to a series draw, which he says would be a “huge achievement.”
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Ahead of what is almost surely his last Test in India, Steve Smith has spoken about the nature of his relationship with Pat Cummins, the man whose appointment to the captaincy curtailed any chance the world’s best batters had of returning to the role.
Smith turns 34 in June and is on the eve of his 10th Test in India given the Australians do not return for another Border Gavaskar Trophy until 2027.
“I probably can’t see myself coming back really, if I’m being realistic,” he said.
“But, we’ll wait and see, take it day by day, four years is a long time. I’ll enjoy this one, hopefully it’s a great crowd and we can entertain them and ideally finish the series really well.”
Smith, who was given a 12-month leadership ban and made to stand down from the role after the sandpaper gate incident, has been widely praised for his tactics as acting captain in the third Test match.
Cummins had to return to Australia to be with his terminally ill mother after the second Test.
Smith says that when the bowler is in charge it is his role to assist given he fields in slips – a position that is traditionally the control deck during the fielding innings.
In the fast-moving Indian Tests tactics are similar to a T20 with almost every ball and boundary critical when the spinners are operating.
“My role is to try and make things as easy as possible for Pat and when we’re out on the field, if I see something I try to help him along and ultimately let him make the decision,” he said.
“It’s probably more difficult (for Cummins) here than in Australia for instance.
“You can change something at the end of an over (in Australia) for it to be beneficial, you have a bit more time.
“Whereas here, when I see something, it almost has to happen straightaway because of the way the game is played here and there is so much on each ball.
“So it’s difficult from that aspect, but I just try and make as many suggestions as I feel when I have a gut feeling.
“I feel like I understand these conditions well but it’s definitely harder to communicate. I’m fielding at slip generally, Patty’s at mid-off – I can make hand gestures and things like that, but it’s not as easy as you’d like. So that can be difficult but ultimately my job is to make things as easy as possible and help in any way that I can.”
Smith says his “time is done” as captain, but admits he is constantly making suggestions to bowlers on the field when deputy.
“Then they can go to Patty or whatever they like,” he said. “Ultimately it’s down to him to make the call on what’s happening out there.
“For me in these conditions I’ve been at slip last game and I like moving things around depending on what happens the ball before – that’s just how I like to do it. Everyone is different the way they go about it.
“At times me and Petey (Handscomb) were playing games where it was like wherever the ball goes, just move to that spot the next ball and go again.
“We were calling it follow the ball basically.
“That might sound a bit silly for some people, but the angles created off the wicket, if a ball goes to a certain position, they might try and play it a bit differently the next ball, which can bring in another mode of dismissal.
“Fun like that out on the field is something I enjoy in these conditions.”
Smith’s hyperactive mind is almost perfectly suited to the chaos of Indian Tests, but in the more attritional conditions where most other series are played patience and persistence is traditionally considered the optimum approach.
The acting captain says that a small innings can be critical in India and reaction is important. He was lauded for bowling changes in the Indore win which resulted in a threatening Shreyas Iyer be slowed down and then dismissed.
“Through this series, outside of Rohit (Sharma) getting a hundred at Nagpur, there’s been a few 70s, 80s that have been matchwinning or match-turning, and guys getting quick-fire 30s have been able to shift momentum,” he explained.
“Sheryas Iyer last game got a quick-fire 30 and put a bit of pressure back on us and we just had to change things around.
“In terms of batting, we’ve spoken about every ball being important and trying to let go of the ball before and taking your egos out of play, if the ball spins sharply past your bat, there’s a reasonable chance the next one is going to go straight.
“You’ve got to cover that and be happy to get out certain ways. For instance I was happy with the way I got out last game getting caught behind off that straight one. It probably didn’t turn as much as I would have liked but I was happy with the way I got out. Guys have to be content with the way you get out.”
The Australians are sitting on a 2-1 disadvantage in the Border Gavaskar Trophy, waiting to see if red or black comes up in the game of Indian pitch roulette.
The house, however, is guaranteed the advantage.
Indian coach Rahul Dravid will, like Goldilocks, decide which bed is the most comfortable.
Acting Australian captain Steve Smith revealed that, like Indore, it is a choice between a black soil or red clay wicket.
“There’s two prepared,” he said. “The groundsman said 60% the black soil, 40% the red soil and the boys are saying the percentages have gone up on the black soil as all the Indian players were looking at the black soil when they arrived (Tuesday).
“Whether those percentages have changed, we’ll wait and see. We’ll have a look today and we’ll reassess, but it could be a name at the toss for the team.
“We play on what we’re served.”
Smith explained the difference between the two wickets.
“I think generally the red soil bounces a bit more,” he said. “I think the first one that we played on in Nagpur was red soil. The last two have been black soil and I don’t think it’s bounced as much in the last two.
“It potentially brings in the stumps a little bit more, the pads a bit more, maybe less of the outside edge particularly for seamers that are skidding the ball.”
There’s a chance that if it is the red clay Scott Boland could come into contention for one of the spinners, but selectors could equally rely on Mitchell Starc and Cameron Green for any seam bowling necessary and probably will.
While not complaining, Smith said he cannot remember a situation where a venue has not decided on which pitch to use two days out from a game.
India is desperate to keep a resurgent Australia from squaring the series, but the hosts are under pressure.
India’s games backfired in Indore and they were beaten at home for just the third time in a decade. It looks to have cost the venue too with the ICC rating the pitch “poor” and placing it in danger of suspension if it receives more sanctions in the next five years, but India has appealed against the penalty.
“It’d be a huge achievement for the group, or any touring team, that comes here to India and wins two Test matches,” Smith said.
“Unfortunately, we weren’t able to do it earlier in the series and give ourselves a chance to win, but to draw the series here would be a huge plus and positive for this group.”.
“I think it is a good chance of being a pretty cool atmosphere,” Smith said. “A lot of the guys haven’t seen this stadium before, they’ve walked in today and it’s huge, obviously I think it holds 130,000.
“If we get somewhere up around that number, it’d be unbelievable, the atmosphere. We know how loud some of these grounds are over here in India.
“So if there’s 100,000 plus out there, it’s going to be pretty loud. And it’d be really just a great vibe and atmosphere out there to play in front of.”
Having lost their heads – and any chance to score a historic series win in Delhi – the Australians returned to the game plan in Indore and were successful. Smith is urging them not to get carried away again at the Narendra Modi Stadium, but wants more contribution from the bowlers with the bat.
“I sort of said it before the last game, just being better for a bit longer and think we did that in parts,” he said. “Obviously we had a big collapse at the back-end.
“The tail is something we’ve spoken about, probably as batters haven’t contributed as much as would have liked, the bottom few. That’s been a big difference when you see someone like Axar who has been incredibly difficult to get out. And in terms of our top six verses their top six there’s not a huge difference in averages for the series.
“There’s an area I think we can improve but outside of that think it’s just continuing to trust the way we are going about it, having faith it will work and doing it for long periods of time.”
SMITH SET TO LEAD AUSSIES INTO BATTLE ONCE AGAIN IN AHMEDABAD
Pat Cummins will not return to India and Steve Smith will captain the Australian side in the fourth and final Test of the Border Gavaskar Trophy in Ahmedabad.
Cricket Australia confirmed on Monday that Cummins, who returned home after the second Test to be with his terminally ill mother, would stay in Sydney.
Smith successfully led the side in the third match at Indore and received high praise for his captaincy of the three spin bowlers.
Australia is a chance of squaring the series after securing just the third Test win by a visiting side in the past decade at Indore.
Adam Gilchrist stood in for an injured Ricky Ponting and led Australia to its last Border Gavaskar series win in 2004. Ponting returned for the fourth Test but the side was beaten on a raging turner in Mumbai.
Cummins has an excellent record as captain since assuming the job from Tim Paine, leading the side to a 4-0 Ashes victory in his first summer and a historic win over Pakistan in 2022. Australia drew with Sri Lanka in Sri Lanka but were unbeaten at home against the West Indies and South Africa in the home summer.
Smith, who lost the captaincy for his role in the sandpaper gate controversy, has no interest in returning to the job full time.
“My time is done,” he said. “It’s Pat’s team now. I’ve obviously been able to stand in this week, obviously in tough circumstances with Patty going home. Our thoughts are still with him back home as well,” 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 to just move people and trying to make the batter do something different and, and just play games with them. It’s probably my favourite place in the world to captain.
“You think back home in Australia and generally you’re playing with a third slip or putting a third slip to cover or your square leg up or back or something like that. There’s not too much that sort of goes on with it. Sort of just stick to the same game plan and try to trust what you’re trying to do there. But this part of the world you have to be really proactive. Every ball is an event and therefore can dictate what happens after, which is something that I really love and you’ve got to be ahead of the game. So I thought I did it well this week and it was good fun.”
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