Australia captain Pat Cummins has revealed that premier batter Steve Smith is very happy after the team has decided to elevate him to the opener’s role for the Test series against West Indies. Smith is set to open the innings alongside Usman Khawaja for Australia after David Warner bid adieu to Test cricket with the Pakistan series.
Cummins feels that it might be a new challenge for Smuth but wants people to not underestimate him.
“It’s a new challenge for him, which I don’t think you can underestimate. I’ve never seen him just as happy and as energetic as I have seen him around the nets the last couple of days,” Cummins was quoted as saying to the reporters.
The Aussie captain said that Smith is re-energised and getting ready for the new role as he is not shying away from tweaking his approach and technique to become an opener.
“Seeing someone who has basically achieved everything in the game get really excited for a new challenge, you have got to entertain that. You can see already his mind whirring about how he’s going to maybe go about a little bit differently … it’s like re-energising,” he added.
Recognised openers Cameron Bancroft, Marcus Harris and Matt Renshaw were long seen as the main contenders to fill the role, until Smith last week said he wanted to do the job.
“Steve Smith will be opening the batting and Cameron Green will be coming into the number four position which is fantastic,” chief selector George Bailey told reporters.
“Steve’s motivated and energised and keen to do it.
“It’s a challenge for him, it’s something … he thinks he can do. It’s an itch he’d like to scratch and ultimately for us, as a team, it’s something that fits,” he added.
Shifting Smith up the order, rather than opting for a specialist opener, allowed selectors to bring Green back primarily as a batsman.
Australia: Usman Khawaja, Steven Smith, Marnus Labuschagne, Cameron Green, Travis Head, Mitchell Marsh, Alex Carey (wk), Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins (c), Nathan Lyon, Josh Hazlewood
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