Former Indian Test opener Aakash Chopra showered praise on Australia’s talismanic batter Steve Smith after he scored a crucial knock of 66 runs on the opening day of the World Test Championship final against South Africa at Lord’s on Wednesday.
The right-hander scored 10 boundaries in his fine knock and played a key role in helping Australia post 212 runs on the board after they were put into bat by Temba Bavuma.
Australia were struggling at 67-4 at lunch break but Smith added a crucial alliance of 79 runs with Beau Webster, who had the rub of the green on his side in the initial phase of his innings.
“One thing that is standing out in his batting is that he moves so much before the ball is bowled that you feel whether he has ants in his pants. However, he becomes absolutely still when the ball is getting released. The head and body are still, and then there is no movement after that,” Chopra said on his YouTube Channel.
“Believe it or not, the guy wasn’t moving at all while playing cover drives or cut shots. He plays only with his hands after that. He transfers his body weight and extends the arms from there itself. He is absolutely incredible,” he added while dissecting Smith’s batting technique.
Chopra lauded the Australian veteran batter for his improved game on the off-side.
“If you see his wagon wheel, you will find that he has scored a lot of runs on the off side. He used to be an on-side dominated player because the bottom hand used to work a lot. However, he scores a lot of runs on the off side now. That is what Test cricket does to you. You keep improving. You keep getting better. He got out against the run of play,” he elaborated.
Meanwhile, Beau Webster was fortunate as the impact was umpire’s call and the not out decision was upheld after the lunch break. Furthermore, Temba Bavuma didn’t go for the review when the lanky batter was plumbed in front of the wickets by Kagiso Rabada. Webster was on eight when the review was not taken.
“I felt Beau Webster was slightly fortunate because the umpire should have given him out lbw. Even if the umpire didn’t give him out, they could have reviewed at least, but they didn’t do that as well. So he got a life, and he too scored runs,” he said.
“His playing style is slightly different, and I think South Africa didn’t bowl well in that session. That session went towards Australia, and Australia also showed that you need to score runs to move ahead in the match. All movement is not progress, but progress is when you score runs,” Chopra observed.
Webster scored a fine knock of 72 runs and played a key role for Australia. At the end of opening day’s play, South Africa were reduced to 43-4 after Mitchell Starc bagged two wickets, whereas Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood took one wicket apiece.
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