Smith not keen on full-time captaincy despite Indore masterclass

Australian talisman Steven Smith has dismissed full-time captaincy ambitions after leading the team to an emphatic comeback victory against India in Indore on Friday. Standing in as the skipper for Pat Cummins, who returned back home to attend to her ailing mother, Smith was in-charge of a full-blown Australian onslaught in the third Test.

He manoeuvred the spin bowling options available to him brilliantly by roping in newcomer Matthew Kuhnemann into the XI who picked five wickets to help bundle India out for 109 in the first innings. The visitors looked down and out after thoroughly uninspiring outings in the first two Tests.

However, they sprung a surprise in this game that many believed to be a result of Smith’s more proactive and ingenuity as a skipper. Post the game though, the 33-year-old warded off any suggestions of returning back as the permanent skipper at any point in the future.

“My time is done. It’s Pat’s team now. I have obviously been able to stand in this week, obviously in tough circumstances with Patty going home. Our thoughts are still with him back home,” Smith mentioned, as quoted by the Times of India (TOI). He added, “But India is a part of the world I love captaining … it is probably my favourite place in the world to captain.”

It is unarguable that Smith has been one of the more impressive Australian skippers to have toured India in recent times. The Michael Clarke-led side was whitewashed 4-0 by India in the Border-Gavaskar series in 2013 whereas Cummins looked completely out of sorts in the two games he captained in this series.

However, Smith’s team in 2017 had really given the Indian side a run for their money. They had won the first Test of that series in Pune and contested well in each of the remaining games despite their losses in Bengaluru and Dharamshala. Do you think Steven Smith should return to lead Australia full-time in Test cricket? Let us know by tweeting @cric_blog.