Horses-for-courses theory has Steve Smith captain in front of Pat Cummins in the subcontinent

Would there ever have been a scenario where the Australians might have at least discussed a horses-for-courses option for captaincy, letting Steve Smith take charge on turning wickets instead of Pat Cummins?

Steve Smith celebrates Australia’s First Test win over Sri Lanka in Galle. Picture: AFP

Steve Smith was playing a game of chess. Maybe it was Tetris. Perhaps he was just solving a jigsaw puzzle. In all likelihood, he was attempting an abstract Jackson Pollock on the outfield at the Galle International Stadium.

Whatever it was, Steve Smith was having the time of his life. Steve Smith was also leading his team to a famous Test win against Sri Lanka by an innings and 242 runs. And doing so in that hyperactive, highly animated, fashion on the field where you could mistake him to have been a conductor for a symphony orchestra. Frantically moving his hands around but always with great precision, like every movement made sense. Every movement mattered. Just like every moment did.

The trombones first, the oboe next, then time for the bassoon before the cellists got involved, followed by short-leg, silly point and then Marnus at a kneeling-down short gully. It was all happening. Not once did he stop moving his hands around. Not once did his fielders stop moving around either.

Around 28 bowling changes across 107 overs and around 280 alterations in the field, maybe 2800, who knows. It seemed like plenty. It was incessant at times, but it was also extraordinary at the same time.

Matthew Kuhnemann referred to Australia's captain Smith, right, as a genius directing the field in the First Test in Galle. Picture: AFP

“A genius” is how Matthew Kuhnemann referred to his captain, especially about the moves he was making on the field. Some of his moves did seem leaden with genius for sure.

Like they did in Indore two years prior when Smith led his team to a nine-wicket win on a raging turner.

That was the first glimpse of Smith as a Test captain in the subcontinent in six years when it happened. He couldn’t have looked happier with the opportunity as he arranged and rearranged his chess pieces on the field to script a dramatic turnaround on a Test that was played at warp speed.

Back in Indore, it was the way Smith worked out India’s Cheteshwar Pujara in cahoots with Nathan Lyon that stood out. A statement piece of his ultra-proactive captaincy. It was a ring field on the on-side he’d employed, adjusting them ever so slightly in between deliveries – leg gully moves two steps to the right, backward short leg one step the left – to strangle the premier India No. 3 into submission, with Lyon playing his role perfectly.

It was in the way he’d shepherded his younger spinners that stood out then. As it did in Galle last week.

The way he gave Kuhnemann an in/out field, having grasped the fact that the Sri Lankans would attack him more than his other two spin colleagues. It brought forth wickets, too, some crucial ones at that, including Kamindu Mendis, for whom Smith had placed a catcher on the deep mid-wicket fence. Another trait so important to captain in these conditions, reading the play and trying to be at least a couple of steps ahead.

In his 23 Tests so far in Asia, Smith has averaged 55 with the bat when he’s held the reins as compared with 46 when he’s played just as a batter. Picture: AFP

It certainly makes a lot of sense for Australia to stick with Smith at the helm for the Champions Trophy in a fortnight.

Smith always talks about reading the tempo of the game on turning pitches in the subcontinent as being the most vital factor for being a successful captain on the field here. Few do it better than him. It’s like watching a rhythm guitarist jump on stage during an impromptu jam session and being in sync with the rest of the band without missing a single beat. Kuhnemann’s genius at work.

You do wonder then about what would have been if Pat Cummins was on this tour. It’s a moot point now but one that’s worth considering: would there ever have been a scenario where the Australians might have at least discussed a horses-for-courses option for captaincy, letting Smith take charge on turning wickets in this part of the world.

That is before we even get into the debate over which one out of Cummins and Mitchell Starc is a better option as the sole fast bowler on a surface that demands for three spinners. It was one they surely had during the last Test tour here in 2022, where they decided to stick with Cummins and Starc together for both Tests. They clearly missed a third spin option for the second Test, which they eventually lost by an innings with the home team piling on a mammoth total.

With Australia’s next Test tour of Asia now two years away, we might never know. Smith himself isn’t ready to look that far. He had quite categorically stated two years earlier in Ahmedabad that it would be the final Test for him in India. But with form on his side, there’s a possibility he might make it to India alongside Lyon for one final go at winning a series on Indian soil. And if he does, maybe he will be the one handed the reins.

If not, the second Test here in Galle will be his final Test in Asia. This will be his 24th and he goes into it with an overall average of 50.35 with six centuries, three of which have come in Sri Lanka. Five came with him in charge.

He’s captained in 12 of those matches with four wins to his name, the ones in Pune 2017 and Indore 2023 being the standouts in terms of magnitude. But what his team pulled off last week in Galle, Australia’s biggest innings victory in the continent, was by far the most comprehensive.

In some ways, it will be apt if he goes out while captaining Australia on a turning pitch. In his 23 Tests so far in Asia, he’s averaged 55 with the bat when he’s held the reins as compared with 46 when he’s played just as a batter. Says something about how much he loves playing around with his chess pieces.

The pitch for the second Test in Galle starting on Thursday will turn, savagely and quite venomously. It’ll bring the best out of Smith the batter. But more so the best out of Smith the captain. He’ll be there ready to conduct the orchestra.