Mitchell Johnson rips apart Steve Smith questioning his intentions to play for Australia
Australia recently whitewashed New Zealand 3-0 in the T20I series and Steve Smith was seen opening the batting in a couple of matches but failed to make an impact. He was dismissed for 11 in the second T20I and scored only 4 runs in the third T20I.
Steve Smith has always struggled in the shortest format and former Australian pacer Mitchell Johnson feels that the only reason why Smith is interested in the T20 World Cup is to make a name for himself to get cash-rich deals in franchise cricket.
Australia tried Steve Smith as an opener in the shortest format so the batter can get some time at the start to get settled but he has not been able to showcase his batting prowess in the shortest format.
Steve Smith has played 67 T20Is and in 55 innings, he has only managed to score 1094 runs at an average of 24.86 and a strike rate of 125.46 which is nowhere in comparison with his Test and ODI records.
Micthell Johnson talked about Steve Smith playing T20Is in his column for The Nighty. He Wrote, “I wonder if international T20 cricket is something he really wants to play.”
“Of course, he will most likely play in a few different leagues around the world when his Test career is over so maybe there is a dangling carrot in that he wants to perform at the international level and at a World Cup to boost his chances of playing in leagues where he can earn himself big pay cheques,” Johnson added.
Johnson hinted that Steve Smith can be used as an opener as that is the only spot available for him. “And with Australia’s explosive batting attack, that could be a good fit for Smith. But Australia needs to see him score and do that job consistently before he could be considered for the World Cup,” Johnson concluded.
Steve Smith’s place in T20 World Cup squad is not sure
Travis Head and David Warner have taken the opener’s spot and are likely to open the innings in the T20 World Cup with skipper Mitchell Marsh coming at No.3,
Glenn Maxwell is likely to bat at No.4 and Tim David and Josh Inglis provide the much-needed depth in the middle order so Steve Smith’s place is not being confirmed in the Playing XI. Steve Smith is himself not very sure of opening the innings for Australia in the ICC T20 World Cup 2024.
“I got a couple of decent balls to be fair. I think they’re pretty settled up top, to be honest, with (Travis) Head, Warner, and (Mitch) Marsh in the top three. I’m not really sure what (selectors) want to do. I’m not really too fussed either way. If I’m there, I’m there. If I’m not, I’m not,” said Steve Smith.
The ICC T20 World Cup 2024 is scheduled to commence on June 1 and will be hosted jointly by the West Indies and the United States. Australia have won the T20 World Cup title once in 2021 when it was hosted in Dubai.
However, they are on an ICC title-winning spree as they have won the ICC World Test Championship title in 2023 and also the ICC Men’s ODI World Cup in the same year. If they win the T20 World Cup in 2024, they will become the first team to be the champions in all three formats at the same time.
