New Delhi: Former Australia captain Mark Taylor has urged for Steve Smith’s recall to the T20I squad, citing the top-order’s poor plan following David Warner’s retirement. Smith’s recall, Taylor argues, is crucial to provide stability and adaptability to the team’s batting order, especially in challenging conditions like slow pitches.
Following Australia’s elimination from the Super Eight stage of the Men’s T20 World Cup in June, the right-handed batter was not named to the 20-over squad for the tour of Scotland and England. Australia picked youthful Jake-Fraser McGurk, who had two ducks and a knock of 16 in their recent series victory over Scotland.
“I’m interested to see what Australia does from here on with that top order to replace Dave Warner. It seems to be, at the moment, about putting more and more hitters in there, and eventually, one of them will come off. I think that’s a bit of a flawed plan because I’d like to see Steve Smith back in our order somewhere,” said Taylor on Nine’s Wide World of Sports show.
The T20 World Cup loss to Afghanistan in St Vincent was a wake-up call. It showed why we missed someone like Smith in our ranks. Taylor believes Smith has a role to play in the 2026 tournament, and I couldn’t agree more. His absence was felt, and his return could make a significant difference.
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“If or when you get a slow pitch as we did in the recent World Cup, we lost to Afghanistan, which forced us out of that World Cup, we needed someone like Steve Smith in that middle order. I still think the better batsmen in the world will bat well in all formats, so I just worry about our philosophy that Warner’s out; let’s go with another hitter.”
“I’d still like Australian selectors to think about putting Steve Smith back in the side somewhere to add a bit of stability for a slow pitch. On a flat pitch sure, put all your hitters in and go for it, try and make 200. On a slower pitch, sometimes 150 can be hard to chase, as we saw when Australia played Afghanistan in the recent World Cup,” he concluded.
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–IANS
