Following Australia’s ODI series win over India, in India, senior India off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin reckons Steve Smith and the captaincy armband perfectly suit one another.
After two one-sided contests in Mumbai and Vizag, fans got to witness a sort-of-thriller in Chennai, which the visitors won by 21 runs, clinching the series 2-1.
This ODI series win by Australia in India – the last time India lost a series at home was against Australia in 2019 – might force the Australian selectors to rethink their captaincy choice for the World Cup 2023.
While Pat Cummins hasn’t had any opportunity as the ODI skipper, Steve Smith, leading in his absence here as Cummins is unavailable, has been phenomenal as Australia’s captain, not just in this ODI series, but in also the 2 Tests he led in – won in Indore and draw in Ahmedabad – in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
Smith has been tactically smart with his bowling choices, innovative with his field placements, and has performed his duties as a leader.
As Australia become only the second team – after themselves – to beat India in a series in any format in India since 2016, Ravichandran Ashwin praised Steve Smith’s captaincy on Twitter.
“Steve smith and captaincy is a match made in heaven #INDvAUS,” tweeted R Ashwin, who has had some great battled with Steve Smith in Test cricket and the pair share mutual respect.
Steve smith and captaincy is a match made in heaven👌#INDvAUS
— Ashwin 🇮🇳 (@ashwinravi99) March 22, 2023
This tweet from the senior India cricketer, who himself is known for his astute cricketing brain, went viral like wildfire among fans, and it might even reach the Australian selectors.
Meanwhile, talking about the game, Adam Zampa’s brilliant 4-wicket haul, coupled with Ashton Agar’s 2 wickets in a single over, helped the visitors bowl the hosts out for 248 in their chase of 270, winning by 21 runs in Chennai.
Virat Kohli was India’s top-scorer with 54 runs in 72 balls, scored with the help of 2 fours and a six. Rahul, Hardik, Rohit, and Gill – all got starts but none of them was able to convert it into a big knock.
At the post-match press conference, Steve Smith said: “It’s been an enjoyable tour. We didn’t play our best cricket, good enough to get over the line. This wicket was entirely different, we left a few out there with the bat. The spinners bowled beautifully, really good performance. (Turning point) It was a real grind in the field. The way the tail stuck and got us to 269, got us to a nice total.”
India captain Rohit Sharma conceded that the target was achievable but the Indian batters didn’t bat well, failing to build big partnerships.
“I don’t think it was too many runs. We didn’t bat well. Partnerships are crucial and that’s something we failed to do today. You are brought up playing in these type of wickets, it’s important you apply,” Rohit said.
“After the start, it was important for one batter to carry on and take the game deep. It just didn’t happen. Lot of takeaways. We can take a lot of positives from the nine ODIs since January. We need to understand where we need to improve. It’s a collective failure, we can take a lot of learnings from this series. Credit to the Australians. Both the spinners applied the pressure and so did their seamers.”
