Steve Smith unsure where he’ll bat against India, opens up on T20 disappointment

Despite the public utterances of selectors, Steve Smith says he has ‘no idea’ whether he’ll be opening the batting for Australia in next summer’s Border-Gavaskar Trophy series.

Steve Smith is “not fussed” whether he retains the spot as Test opener this summer and says it is “just a position to me”.

The batting great has also laid bare his disappointment at being dropped from Australia’s T20 set-up for the World Cup in June but is eyeing a return to the Indian Premier League next year after an outstanding Major League Cricket campaign.

Passed over at the IPL then cut from the national T20 side, Smith didn’t pick up a bat between the end of the Test series in New Zealand in March and his involvement last month with the Washington Freedom, a tournament in which he averaged 56 and struck at 148.67 to lead his side to the title.

He is gearing up for a one-day series in England next month before the flagship five-Test Border-Gavaskar Trophy series against India, which begins in Perth on November 22.

Elevated from his longtime spot at No. 4 to replace David Warner as Test opener in January, Smith performed modestly across four Tests against the West Indies and New Zealand.

He averaged 28.50, albeit with a standout unbeaten 91 while Shamar Joseph ran amok in Brisbane.

Smith remained unbeaten on 91 in Australia’s shock loss to the West Indies at the Gabba last summer. Picture: Pat Hoelscher / AFP

Selection chair George Bailey has since said the panel was planning to keep Smith in the new role to start the series against India, although the veteran said in an interview before the MLC final that he still had “no idea” whether he was locked into the spot.

“You’ll have to ask the men in charge but I’m not fussed either way,” Smith said.

Reflecting on his late-career initiation to taking the new ball, Smith said he wanted to do better.

“Some challenging conditions with the new ball, in particular,’’ he said. “So I would have liked to score a few more runs.

“That’s the game sometimes but I played pretty well in the second innings at the Gabba where we couldn’t get over the line, unfortunately.

“It’s just a position to me so it doesn’t really faze me too much.”

Steve Smith at the crease for the Rajasthan Royals in 2019. Picture: Money Sharma / AFP

Smith would likely play two Shield matches for NSW before the first Test but wasn’t certain if he would open for the Blues.

Remaining on the outer for Australia’s T20 series in Scotland and England, Smith was unsure whether there was a path back for him into the national side in that format but was bullish about a possible IPL comeback, having last played in that competition in 2021.

“I don’t know about international T20 stuff,’’ he said. “You’ll have to ask the selectors there.

“I was disappointed not to be in the World Cup but that’s the way things go. They wanted all the big hitters.

“I’d love to be part of the IPL again, for sure. I’ll be putting my name in the hat so just have to keep scoring runs. You never know, we’ll see what happens.”

Asked more broadly about his cricketing future, Smith, 35, said he was “enjoying playing” but did not have long-term goals.

He was full of praise for the MLC and indicated the two-season-old league was heading in the right trajectory.

“Plenty of really good overseas players involved and some really good local talent has been sort of unearthed as well,’’ he said.

“Off the back of USA running the World Cup, they came in with a lot of momentum. So it’s been a pretty successful tournament.”

Smith did not wish to be drawn on Warner’s comments in June that suggested the left-hander had “been the only one that’s ever copped a lot of flak” stemming from the ball-tampering scandal in which the pair, along with Cameron Bancroft, were suspended.

Originally published as Steve Smith unsure where he’ll bat against India, opens up on T20 disappointment