IND vs AUS: Everyone is Allowed to Have a Few Bad Games Here And There – Ricky Ponting on Steve Smith
Former Australia captain Ricky Ponting said that Steve Smith has had a few bad games but Australia really need him to get back to his best against the bowling that India have.
The star batsman of Australia, Steve Smith is facing tough times in the longest format of the game. Currently, he is not in the form he has been known for. Meanwhile, the former Australia skipper Ricky Ponting has kept faith in the Australia batsman and said that this is just a phase and soon it will get over.
At the same time, Ponting also added that with the current Indian bowling attack, Australia really needs Steve Smith to stand up.
“He’s not having much go his way at the moment. I think he would have liked to have his time over with his first-inning dismissal here, he would have played that differently.
“But he’s one of the all-time greats of the game everyone is allowed to have a few bad games here and there.
“The one thing I do know is that Australia needs Steven Smith to stand up, especially against this bowling attack India have,” Ponting told cricket.com.au.
Tons of runs were expected from the bat of Steve Smith but off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin has got the better of him so far. On Monday, Smith was bowled by Jasprit Bumrah while he tried to shuffle across and guide the ball towards fine leg.
Steve Smith was in brilliant form in the just concluded white-ball series against India. He even smashed back-to-back centuries off just 62 balls both the times.
“The two one-day hundreds he made were as good as I’ve ever seen him play,” Ponting said.
“Knowing what he’s like when he gets into that groove and as he talks about ‘finding his hands’, I thought that would flow over into this series and it hasn’t yet.
“There’s still potentially four more innings for him and we know that if he gets in and set he can make a big score,” he added.
As long as Smith’s performance in the ongoing series is concerned, he has only scored 10 runs in 4 innings at an average of 3.33, the lowest average in the Australian camp.
