Former India player Deep Dasgupta has stated that Australia’s batter Steve Smith is looking to open the innings in the upcoming Border Gavaskar Trophy against India, starting from November 22. Smith has been starting the proceedings for Australia ever since David Warner announced his retirement and has collected 171 runs in 8 innings.
As of now, Steve Smith has scored 5966 runs from 67 matches at an average of 61.50 mostly batting at number 4 spot. While talking to talkSport, Dasgupta disclosed that he met Smith and asked him about opening the batting against India.
“I bumped into him recently and I asked him ‘You opening? What’s that about? And I asked him ‘Are you going to open against India as well?’ And he replied, ‘yeah, I am thinking about it’. I said ‘yeah, you should, why not?’ Because it’s quite baffling.”
“If you’re an Indian, you’d be happy to see Steve Smith opening. You don’t want to see Steve Smith batting at 4 or down the order because it’s baffling. Almost the peak of his career he’s done so well over so many years batting at that number. Starting to open? It’s a different ball game you know,” added Dasgupta.
“I can understand that he’s not scoring runs and you’re trying to still find a place for him. That’s the only spot available. Stuff like ‘We can only fit you in there so why don’t you try that position’. But that wasn’t the case, was it? I don’t know. I found it very surprising. I’ve heard other teams doing it but not Australia. There is a plan behind everything they have done the years,” Dasgupta said.
Full fixture of India’s tour of Australia 2024-25
First Test at Perth Stadium in Perth – November 22 to 26
Second Test at Adelaide Oval in Adelaide – December 6 to 10 (Day-Night)
Third Test at The Gabba in Brisbane – December 14 to 18
Fourth Test at the MCG in Melbourne – December 26 to December 30
Fifth Test at the SCG in Sydney – January 3 to January 7, 2025
