How Steve Smith’s retirement from one-day cricket can help prolong his Test career

Steve Smith’s retirement from Australia’s one-day team leaves an enormous hole in the middle order - but it does come with a significant silver lining.

Steve Smith’s shock ODI retirement comes with a significant silver lining for Australia – it may prolong his Test career for one last shot at the Holy Grail.

There have been fears that this summer’s Ashes series could be a swan song for Smith, but it now cannot be ruled out that the batting great may consider fighting on to the 2027 Test tour of India, the final frontier for this golden Australian team.

The famous 2004 triumph is the only Test tour Australia has won in India in the past 55 years and Pat Cummins’ team could not expect to climb Mt Everest in two years’ time without Smith’s peerless batting against slow bowling.

Other ingredients will be required to conquer India on home soil over five Tests, but while Smith is in the line-up, Australia is a fighting chance of creating history.

Steve Smith has said goodbye to ODI cricket - but it could have a silver lining for Australia. Picture: AFP

Smith has been to India three times, and despite scoring three centuries and averaging 50 and skippering Australia to famous victories in Pune 2017 and Indore 2023, he is yet to taste ultimate team success in the hardest country on earth to win.

When asked about his Test future over the past few years, Smith has continually stated that he is taking it one series at a time, and at this stage is mind is only on the Ashes assignment this summer.

He has previously baulked when asked about the chances of him making Australia’s next Ashes tour, also in 2027.

Two years is still a long way away when you’re 35 years of age.

Smith has hit another purple patch in Test cricket. Picture: AFP

But there is no doubt breaking Australia’s drought in India is a challenge that motivates Smith and his sublime form in the 2-0 rout of Sri Lanka proved the master has lost none of his sharpness in plundering spin bowling on the sub-continent.

As much as Smith’s retirement from the one-day format hurts Australia’s ambitions of defending their ODI crown at the 2027 World Cup in South Africa, it could serve a greater good if it extends his Test career a couple of years longer than first thought.

Without the burden of 50-over tours, Smith can mentally and physically refresh himself in between Test assignments for Australia and pick and choose franchise T20 leagues he wants to play.

Winning in India remains a key bucketlist item for Steve Smith. Picture: Getty

When you have achieved everything there is to achieve in the game as a batsman as Smith has, it’s all about finding new goals to keep the embers burning.

Conquering the 10,000 run barrier as Smith did in Sri Lanka was certainly one box the right-hander was determined to tick and now a Test tour of India in 2027 could be another provided he maintains his hunger and love of the game.

Ricky Ponting’s Australian record of 41 Test centuries seemed a world away not too long ago, but Smith now has 36 hundreds and if he plays on for another two years it’s certainly not beyond the realms of possibility that this remarkable mark could be his as well – although Smith has stressed these sorts of personal records don’t overly phase him.

If Smith does make it to India in 2027 it would be fascinating to see how he performs, because that year also features Australia’s next Ashes tour of England.

While Australia has retained the Ashes on the past two tours of England, it is another away series they have not won since the early 2000s.

How long Smith plays Test cricket for is of course speculation at this point, but the longer he does the better it is for Australian cricket.

Originally published as How Steve Smith’s retirement from one-day cricket can help prolong his Test career