# Sports

Steve Smith is both strange and genius: Ben Stokes

Smith, who returned to international cricket in 2019 after serving a year-long ban, became the fastest batsman to reach 7000 Test runs last year, shattering a 73-year-old record.

SNS | New Delhi | April 29, 2020 9:58 am

Steve Smith is both strange and genius: Ben Stokes

Heaping praise on Australia batsman Steve Smith, England star all-rounder Ben Stokes said that the classy right-hander is both strange and genius.

The southpaw feels that to be a genius one needs to be strange. However, he revealed that Smith himself admits that he is strange.

“He’s still strange to play against and he’s still strange to play with and the best thing about it is that he admits it. He knows it, he knows it! But I feel to be a genius you have to be a bit strange and you know he’s certainly both,” Stokes said during a chat with Rajasthan Royals spin consultant and New Zealand spinner Ish Sodhi in the The Royals Podcast Episode 5 as quoted by IANS.

Apart from playing for their respective countries, Stokes and former Australia skipper Smith play for Rajasthan Royals in the Indian Premier League (IPL).

“Even though he plays for Australia, biggest rivals England and Australia you’ve just got to hold your hands up sometimes to players like that and go yeah you’re on a different level when it comes to batting,” said Stokes, England’s 2019 50-over World Cup and Ashes hero.

Smith, who returned to international cricket in 2019 after serving a year-long ban, became the fastest batsman to reach 7000 Test runs last year, shattering a 73-year-old record.

In the most recent Ashes series, Smith played a gem, scoring 774 runs in just seven innings with an average of 110.57. Meanwhile, the batter also became the first to score 10 consecutive 50+ scores against a single opponent (England).