The Role Of 'Mr Fix It' Has Been Taken Away From Me In T20I Side: Steve Smith Confident On Playing For Australia In T20 World Cup 2022
Published - 30 Aug 2022, 07:01 PM | Updated - 23 Aug 2024, 12:12 AM
Star Australian batter Steve Smith targets bigger role in Australia’s T20 World Cup title defence campaign at home this year.
Smith amassed 69 runs in four innings in last year’s tournament in UAE, shuffling across the batting lineup, often deployed to rebuild the innings.
Steve Smith mentions about his role in Australia’s T20I team
With Mitchell Marsh’s rise to prominence batting at No.3 for the Australian T20I team, Smith has been pushed down the order to play a free hand and up the ante.
Smith is losing charm in the shortest format after being unsold in IPL 2022, however, the former Australia captain believes he can fit in the national team and support them with his performance.
“I feel like when I’m playing good T20 cricket, I’m in that team (T20 World Cup) for sure. The role that I’ve been given the last couple of years is the ‘Mr. Fix It’ role and that tag’s been taken away from me now (since) the Sri Lanka tour,” Smith told reporters on Tuesday.
I can smack someone six from the first ball: Steve Smith
Smith played all three T20 Internationals against Sri Lanka in June, amassing 42 runs in two innings. Batting at No.4, he was unbeaten on 37 off 27 balls in the final T20I to power the visitors to 176/5.
“For the Sri Lanka tour, I felt like I could go out and just play with a lot more freedom and naturally and not have any kind of hesitation in the back of my mind,” the 33-year-old said.
“I can just take the game on and if I want to smack someone for six first ball, then I’m able to do that freely,” Smith added.
Smith has aggregated 928 runs in the shortest format of international cricket with an average of 34.51 and a strike rate of 128.02.
The Australian Test vice-captain is currently engaged in the ODI series with Zimbabwe. He anchored his side’s 200-run chase in the first match, remaining unbeaten on 48 in 80 balls.
Also Read: Marnus Labuschagne Ranks Best Five Test Batters: Steve Smith At No.1; Babar Azam At No.4
Tagged:
Steve Smith
