I'll Be Cheering For England In 4th Test Against India : Steve Smith

Australia’s talisman batsman, Steve Smith had no second thoughts about choosing which team he will be supporting in the fourth and the last Test between India and England which commences on Thursday at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.

Steve Smith made it clear that he is hoping Joe Root’s side to come up trumps over Virat Kohli’s team in Ahmedabad, which will eventually send Australia into the final of the World Test Championship.

After Cricket Australia postponed their tour to South Africa last month, New Zealand was propelled into the final of the WTC, while Tim Paine’s side has to depend on the result of the series between India and England.

As India won the third Test, which was a day-night contest, and took a 2-1 series lead, England was eliminated from the race to the final – but Joe Root’s men can still spoil the party for the Indian team.

If England can, somehow, conjure up a victory in the last Test, the series will be drawn and Australia will go through to the final; on the other hand, India just needs to avoid a defeat to book the ticket to Lord’s to face the Kiwis in June.

World Test Championship is a great concept: Steve Smith

In a question-and-answer session with his fans, Steve Smith was asked about the idea of the WTC. He thought it is a great concept – the WTC was introduced to revive Test cricket and also make the dead rubbers crucial as it awarded points; it also deducts points for a slow over-rate as Australia were on the receiving end of it, otherwise would have qualified for the final over New Zealand.

In the same answer, the 31-year-old revealed that he would be cheering for his Ashes rivals on Thursday – something which doesn’t want to say again though.

A fan asked Smith, “Thoughts on Test Championship?”

To which he replied, “Great concept. I’ll be cheering for England this week. Not sure you’ll hear me say that again though.”

Well, Steve Smith does have a special liking for the Three Lions; he has scored 2800 runs at an average of 65.12 with the help of 11 hundreds and 9 fifties in the Ashes. The Smith was a large contributor with the bat in Australia retaining the urn in England a couple of years ago – the next Ashes is planned for later this year in Australia.

Also Read: When We Lost In New Zealand Inside Three Days There Were No Discussions Around The Pitch: Virat Kohli