Steve Smith Has Lost His Hands: Allan Border

Former Australian captain Allan Border feels Steve Smith’s poor form is costing the home side dearly in the ongoing Test series against India, adding that the Indian bowlers have found a glaring chink in his armor.

Smith has a brilliant record against India in both Tests as well as ODI cricket and while he started the summer with a bang by smashing back-to-back 61-ball hundreds in the ODIs, he has been found wanting in the longest format of the game, having managed a mere 10 runs across 4 innings.

Smith, who was dismissed by Ravichandran Ashwin in Adelaide and also in the first innings of the Melbourne Test, was once again trapped in the leg-stump ploy with Jasprit Bumrah castling his stumps behind his legs.

Leading into the summer, Steve Smith had claimed that he had ‘found his hands’. However, Border feels that the No.1 ranked Fest batsman has lost them at least for now.

“He (Steve Smith) has lost his hands. He found his hands in the one-dayers, where he looked fantastic. I think they’ve really found a worrying weakness. He walks across the stumps to get to that onside, with those two fielders they had today, it worries him that he is going to chip it to them if he’s not careful and the bowling is high quality,” Allan Border told Fox Sports.

 

‘He’ll find a way’- Allan Border on Steve Smith

Border further reckoned that India can also employ the short-pitch bowling ploy against Steve Smith, something that was implemented with disdain by Neil Wagner last summer.

“They’ve found a chink in there with the short ball and those sorts of things. He got roughed up there last year. There’s been a few Test matches, where people have been looking at those idiosyncrasies and finding those chinks,” added Allan Border.

The former Aussie captain, however, does not doubt that Smith will work relentlessly to solve the issues and find a way to score runs again.

”He never misses, but he is starting to miss. So that’s something for him to take on board. Instead of hitting 20,000 balls, he’ll hit 30,000 balls next week. He will find a way,” he added.

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