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Smith looks back as ton approaches

Australia skipper reflects on his evolution from bowler to batting powerhouse, selecting his most memorable ODI knock

As he prepares to play his 100th one-day international for Australia, captain Steve Smith says his evolution as a 50-over cricketer is still far from complete.

Weather permitting, Smith will on Thursday become the 27th Australian to play 100 ODIs in the second match of this five-game series against India at a soggy Eden Gardens in Kolkata.

Boasting 3188 runs at 43 in his first 99 games, Smith already stands alongside some of Australia's greatest one-day batsmen; even if he fails to score on Thursday, his current average of 43.67 will ensure he places a comfortable third behind Dean Jones (48.82) and Michael Bevan (61.96) among Australian batsmen after 100 matches.

Which is an extraordinary statistic given, as was the case in Test cricket, Smith started his ODI career as a bowler.

Nineteen of the right-hander’s first 25 innings came at No.6 or lower in the order (with no fifties) before his first match at his favoured No.3 spot against South Africa more than three years ago. In 60 innings since then, batting at either No.3, No.4 or No.5, his average balloons to 53, with eight hundreds and 17 half-centuries.

Image Id: E5BA8D4B0816466C8CE07391D8396AED Image Caption: Steve Smith took two wickets on ODI debut in 2010 // Getty

"I think I've evolved a lot as a white-ball player," he said in Kolkata on Wednesday.

"When I first started playing one-day cricket I think my first 30-odd games I played as more of a bowler, so I had to change a bit there.

"I've been batting at No.3 for a while now so I've had to find the right tempo of the game, whether that's hitting the fielders in the deep or knowing the right time to hit a boundary.

"It's something you learn as you play. It's exciting to play my hundredth game tomorrow."


To emphasise the unusual road Smith has taken to become the batting rock of this 50-over side, he says his most memorable innings against the white ball came less than four months after he was considered not good enough to be in the XI at all.

Controversially axed from the start of a five-match series against the Proteas in November 2014, three months out from the start of the 2015 World Cup, Smith’s participation in that tournament was on shaky ground.

His axing hurt and came a major shock, coming as it did a little more than a month after his maiden ODI century, against Pakistan in Sharjah.

But having earned a reprieve for the second match of the series after a hamstring injury to Michael Clarke, which would plague the skipper for most of that summer, Smith made his point heard by posting scores of 10, 73no, 104 and 67no to close out the series. And two months after that, he added a century on his captaincy debut against England in Hobart.

Hobart, January 2015: Smith continues stunning run

His World Cup spot secure, Smith's ODI showpiece would come just a few weeks later. 

"Probably my most memorable innings would be the hundred I scored against India at the SCG in the (World Cup) semi-final," he recalled today of his 93-ball 105 in Australia's 95-run win.

"It was a pretty big game and it was good to stand up and get a big score there.

"I think we lost a wicket pretty early and I was able to form a partnership with Finchy (182 runs with Aaron Finch) and I'd say that's probably one of my better one-day hundreds in a big occasion."

Smith century steers Aussies to World Cup final

And the hard-working 28-year-old insists that he is still far from a master of his craft.

"I'm absolutely still learning," he said. "I think you're always learning and trying to evolve and just keep trying to get better.

"You can never be satisfied and you want to try and be the best you can.

"Yes I've learnt a lot along the way, but there's always so much to learn and get better at."


Australia's Qantas Tour of India

Australia ODI squad: Steve Smith (c), David Warner, Ashton Agar, Hilton Cartwright, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Patrick Cummins, James Faulkner, Aaron Finch, Peter Handscomb, Travis Head, Glenn Maxwell, Kane Richardson, Marcus Stoinis, Matthew Wade, Adam Zampa.

Australia T20 squad: Steve Smith (c), David Warner, Jason Behrendorff, Dan Christian, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Patrick Cummins, Aaron Finch, Travis Head, Moises Henriques, Glenn Maxwell, Tim Paine, Kane Richardson, Adam Zampa.

India squad (first three ODIs): Virat Kohli (c), Rohit Sharma (vc), KL Rahul, Manish Pandey, Kedar Jadhav, Ajinkya Rahane, MS Dhoni (wk), Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Umesh Yadav, Mohammed Shami.

ODI Fixtures


September 17: India won by 26 runs (DLS Method)

September 21: Eden Gardens, Kolkata

September 24: Holkar Cricket Stadium, Indore

September 28: M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru

October 1: VCA Stadium, Nagpur


T20 Fixtures


October 7: JSCA International Stadium, Ranchi

October 10: Barsapara Stadium, Guwahati

October 13: Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Hyderabad