Hello Friends,
Has the Champions Trophy fever gripped all of you? Most certainly it would have specially for the way men in blue have started their campaign. Though this tournament has never been able to create a hype similar to an ODI world cup, still an ICC tournament with all top teams participating is always a talk of the town. With the defending champions Pakistan already eliminated in the league phase the tournament is definitely up for some more surprises. Prior to the Champions Trophy this month was already being dominated by some exciting cricketing actions. The month started on a happy note for the reigning ODI & test world champions Australia when they comprehensively won their two match test series in Sri Lanka. Men in blue got a well deserved preparation for the champions trophy when they won the ODI series against England. It was a good enough practice for South Africa & New Zealand team when they locked horns along with the hosts Pakistan in a tri series just before the global event.
As far as women's cricket is concerned Indian U19 women's team had a great time when they defended their title of U19 Women's T20 World Cup earlier in the month. Another season of Women's Premier League (WPL) kicked in. In the franchise cricket circle SA20 saw yet another exciting season when MI Cape Town won their maiden title. But this month's Sports Talk Of The Month features one of the unsung leaders whose leadership has always been inspirational. He again took the charge of the national team in the absence of regular captain in two of the crucial series for his team.
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| Steve Smith Image Credit:https://flickr.com/photos/29057345@N04/48094026552 |
Steven Smith's leadership has always been a spectacle specially in spin friendly sub continent conditions. He has always excelled as a batter as well as a captain in those conditions. It was unfortunate that he could not continue as a captain for long in past. But whenever he got an opportunity to lead a team he has always proved his mettle be it in international cricket or franchise cricket. T20 is not a format that we associate this modern day legend very frequently. But last year he won the Major League Cricket(MLC) tournament held in the USA. He not only proved his credentials as a successful T20 captain in that tournament but also showcased his versatility as a T20 batter.
Coming back to international cricket due to his sharp cricketing acumen he has been Australian captain Pat Cummins' deputy in test cricket for a while. Last month post Border-Gavaskar trophy when Cummins decided to opt out of the test series against Sri Lanka Smith was the unanimous choice to lead. And we have seen how wonderfully he managed his resources to win the series 2-0. Not to forget his twin hundreds in the series which brought him the player of the series award. Leadership has always brought the best out of the batter Smith.
It couldn't have been better for this legend who is probably heading towards the fag end of a tremendous career to get the opportunity to lead his country in yet another ICC tournament. He has been captaining Australia in the ongoing Champions Trophy in the absence of Pat Cummins. Again the way he managed his resources in the first game against England & came triumphant was commendable. Not to forget Australia are without their famous pace trio of Starc, Cummins & Hazlewood in addition to the absence of all rounders Marsh & Stoinis. Questions have been raised on the bowling group that Australia chose for this tournament. But not to forget that they have to prepare a team keeping an eye on the 2027 ODI World Cup too where they might have to play without a few seniors in case of injury or retirement. When you have an efficient leader like Smith one probably need not to worry about the experience of the players as the captain is well equipped to get the best out of each individual.
What makes Steve Smith the captain such a mouth watering proposition? First & foremost is his understanding of the game situations. When playing in subcontinents he thinks like a subcontinent captain. If we take his recent two series as captain for instance we can see he relied heavily on Mathew Kuhneman in Sri Lanka as left arm spin is usually very effective in those slow tracks & trusted Labuschagne's part time spin in death overs against England during their Champions Trophy encounter. Sometimes such decisions can be looked as gambles which may or may not fetch the desired results but his knack of thinking out of the box as a captain mostly keeps the opposition guessing.
Another aspect that can probably be attributed to his success as a captain in Asian conditions is the amount of time he has spent on those pitches as a batter. He had enormous success as a batter in spin friendly conditions. Tackling some of the best spinners in extremely tough conditions would have given him a fair bit of idea of how to execute his plans as a batter & as a captain. Not only the Australians all the cricket lovers would expect him to play his cards for one more time to fill the Aussie trophy cabinet with one more ICC title.
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