Commenting on Steve Smith’s batting style, former India batsman Sachin Tendulkar said the 30-year-old Australian has a “complicated technique, but extremely organised mindset”.
Talking about Smith’s technique of shuffling across the wicket while batting, Tendulkar told ICC, “In the first Test, the English bowlers tried to get him caught behind the wickets with slips and gully in place.
“And Smith just shuffled across and exposed his leg stumps to cover the line, and was selective and smart in his approach. At Lord’s, they had leg-slip for him on occasions and a few short-pitched deliveries against Jofra Archer got him in trouble as he tried to cover the line with the weight on his back-foot.”
Notably, Smith got hit by a Jofra Archer-bouncer in the first innings at Lord’s, forcing him to get replaced by concussion substitute Marnus Labuschagne in the second innings, and later on missing the following Test at Headingley.
Tendulkar, explaining the ideal technique to deal with such vicious deliveries, said, “The most important thing for any batsman is to keep the head position forward and wait leaning forward or marginally in-line
“Smith got into bad positions and that’s how he probably got hit.”
Impressed with Smith’s resurrection in technique and approach, Tendulkar said, “In the final two Tests, he was leaving the ball while leaning forward, and looked in better positions. He worked on his technique very smartly. That is why I say, ‘complicated technique, but extremely organised mindset’.”
In the recently concluded Ashes series, Smith batted sensationally and scored 774 runs in seven innings at an average of 110.57.
Smith, currently the No 1 ranked Test batsman, also became the first player to hit 10 consecutive 50+ scores against a single opponent in Test cricket. He achieved the feat against England.