Australia confident over Smith comeback despite misfirings

Australia assistant coach Michael Di Venuto is confident that Steve Smith will find his lost form to regain his spot in Australia's T20I eleven.

Australia's stalwart has been struggling to get runs in 20-over cricket, and since Mitchell Marsh has cemented his spot in the playing XI at number 3, Steve has been forced to drop down the order and has shown signs of struggle. 

Smith's last T20I half-century for Australia came back in November 2019. However, the team management and captain Aaron Finch are backing their star batter to make a comeback in T20 cricket.

"Recent history, we've used (Steve Smith) in a different way throughout our middle order, where people have batted around him," Di Venuto said. 

The Aussie assistant coach wants Smith to bat freely and show how well he can perform in the T20 format.

"We know his skill level; we know his talent, so we're pretty keen to unlock him as a T20 cricketer and just let him go about his business and show us how good he is,"

"If he were playing BBL cricket, he would dominate that competition. Unfortunately, a lot of our best players don't play in that competition because they play Test matches. Steven's had good success in the IPL in years gone past,"

Since the beginning of 2020, his strike rate across 16 innings has dropped to 119.39, and he only struck above 130 in five innings. 

The stats certainly don't support the cause of selection of the 33-year-old batter. However, owing to his contributions in the past, the Australian management is allowing Smith to take his time to make a comeback. 

"The skill level is exceptionally high; we're hoping to unlock him during this period. We've got plenty of games leading into the World Cup, so hopefully, we see the best of Steve Smith."

Smith has competitors for the middle order's spot, and the top contender to replace him happens to be Josh Inglis. The latter has performed well for Australia in the limited number of opportunities he has had.

Inglis' six national appearances in the past nine months have reaped 179 runs at an average of 35.80 and a strike rate of 145.52, floating up and down the middle order, identical to how Smith had been moved in the past. 

Di Venuto asserted that Inglis is putting all the hard work behind the scenes to earn his place back in the playing XI.

"We've got very good players in our batting order, and it's a hard order to break. He's doing all the work behind the scenes; he's a very valued member of this squad and waiting for his next chance."

In the opening series T20 match between Sri Lanka and Australia, it looked like Australia didn't need Smith's expertise as they won convincingly by ten wickets. And in the second T20I, while batting at number 4, he was out LBW for five off four deliveries.