Senior India spinner R Ashwin believes Steve Smith has the captaincy acumen and it’s a match made in heaven. Aswin’s comment came on Wednesday night after Smith-led Australia defeated India in the third and final ODI by 21 runs.
Impressed with Smith’s leadership, Ashwin took to Twitter and wrote, “Steve Smith and captaincy is a match made in heaven.” Despite their full-time skipper Pat Cummins’ absence, Australia’s ability to quickly reset, rebound and ultimately dominate was on display again in India where they sealed the series with a 21-run win in Chennai on Wednesday under stand-in skipper Steve Smith.
A change in the entire Aussie approach was witnessed since Smith became the skipper in Cummins’s absence from the third Test in Indore. The 33-year-old’s leadership skills were hailed after the visitor’s dramatic comeback in the third Test after going down 0-2 in the first two. The Smith-led side also managed to draw the fourth Test in Ahmedabad.
Again after losing the first ODI, the Aussies hit back in the second and series was 1-1. Smith’s proactive and tactically sound decisions regarding bowling changes and field placings impressed many.
Incidentally, Australia were the last international team to beat India in a bilateral ODI series back in 2019. The score-line back then was 3-2. Since that series defeat four years back, India have won seven back-to-back bilateral ODI rubber at home.
