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Steve Smith
Steve Smith has been Australia's best test batter in recent years. Among the Aussies active cricketers, the former Australian skipper has the most runs scored. The batter's performance in the longest format of the game has been a little disappointing, as he only scored a half-century in the just-finished series. Smith was part of the team that just defeated Pakistan 3-0 in David Warner's final Test series. He was also part of the World Test Championship (WTC) final and the ODI World Cup 2023 winning side as well.
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Australia will be hosting West Indies for an all-format series, with 2 Tests, 3 ODIs, and 3 T20Is. The 34-year-old batter will be captaining the ODI side as their regular captain Pat Cummins has been rested. Ahead of the 1st Test, the batter was seen in the game of the ongoing Australian Open, he has been spotted with Tennis superstar Novak Djokovic, who is in Australia for his first Grand Slam of the year.
The batter has awestruck the Serbian star with his tennis skills at Melbourne Park for a friendly match. Djokovic was also spotted playing cricket on the court during this incident. The crowd was amassed by these friendly gestures towards each other and they got huge applause from the enthusiastic crowd.
Steve Smith records in Test
The former skipper has a brilliant test average of 67.07 at No. 3 and averages 61.46 and has 19 Test hundreds at No. 4. in Test cricket, with eight hundred, but he hasn’t had the opportunity to bat there since 2017 when he scored three centuries in nine innings as captain in tough spinning conditions.
The 34-year-old batter recently urged his desire to open the batting for the Aussies in the traditional format of the game, while speaking with ABC Grandstand, “I’m actually happy to go up the top,” Smith said. “I’m pretty keen if that’s what they want to do. I’m sure the selectors and Ron [Andrew McDonald] and Patty [Cummins] will have a chat after this game but yeah, I’m certainly interested for sure.” The batter’s urge has been respected as he is set to open in the test series against the Windies.