For the forthcoming Border-Gavaskar Trophy, India will tour Australia. The first Test is set to start in Perth on November 22. Due to the intense hype around the series, past cricket players and social media users are having numerous conversations about the drawing board. Former Australian opener Shane Watson has also joined the chorus, believing that Steve Smith ought to open the batting for the side.
Being a middle-order batsman by trade, Smith had wanted to move up in the batting order following David Warner’s retirement. Since then, he has started four Test matches and amassed 174 runs at a 28.50 average.
Although Shane Watson supported the veteran to start the inning, he also mentioned that the 35-year-old should change his technique.
“I believe Steve Smith ought to remain where he is, having made the decision to go and open.” Moving back to No. 4 would be his safety net, but I would love to see him stick at the top because he has the skill to do so, according to an remark from Watson.
“I think that his poor performance in the previous two Test matches was primarily due to a slight error in technique. I haven’t actually seen him go in a few of the ways that you see [see] him do. Knowing his amazing abilities, I know he would have had time to go away and make some little technical tweaks. If he opens and makes those modifications, he can be a very successful opening bat,” he continued.
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It is noteworthy that India is the Border Gavaskar Trophy’s reigning champion. They repeated their 2-1 victory in Australia in 2018–19 and 2020–21. In 2022–2023, they hosted Australia and prevailed in the series by the same score (2-1). It is noteworthy that in the World Test Championship Points Table, Australia comes in second and India is ranked first.
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