The Australian batter Usman Khawaja has voiced his opinion on Steve Smith’s batting position in the test team.
Following David Warner’s retirement, Smith was promoted to the top of the order. Smith’s performance as an opener in tests has been inconsistent, which has raised questions ahead of the Border Gavaskar Trophy later this year.
This batting lineup has allowed Australia to field their six batters with Cameron Green stepping into Smith’s previous role at No.4. Despite Steven Smith‘s desire to bat anywhere in the order, Khawaja insists that the former captain should return to the No.4 position.
“He’ll just probably never say it. So I’ll say it for him. Opening is a very important spot … I still think we have the best Test player of my era in the side, in Steve Smith, and his best spot has been number four. I feel like that’s his best spot. I feel like the best balance for our team is Labuschagne three, Smith four,” said Khawaja.
Khawaja highlights a noticeable decline in Australia’s scores since the lineup change. In the eight innings following Warner’s retirement, Australia has surpassed the 300 runs mark only once.
“For me, the number one consideration is ‘what’s best for the team?’. What order scores us the most runs? And if you look at how many runs we scored with Davey Warner in the team and Smudge batting at four, we scored a lot of runs. With Smudge opening, we’ve still won games, but I don’t think we’ve scored as many runs as we could’ve,” Usman Khawaja added.
Smith’s individual performance as an opener has also been underwhelming, with just one fifty in eight innings with an average of 28.50, compared to his impressive average of 61.54 at no.4.
The Border Gavaskar series between India and Australia will begin on November 22, with the first test at Perth. The second test will be featured in an exciting day-night format under the Stadium’s lights.
The third test will be played in The Gabba, which will be held on December 14-18. The Boxing Day test is set for December 26-30 at Melbourne Cricket Ground. The fifth and final test taking place at the Sydney Cricket Ground from January 3 and 7 which is anticipated to produce an exciting contest.
