Steve Smith brushes off concerns over struggles as Test opener

Australia's legendary batter Steve Smith isn't overly worried about his recent lack of runs as a Test opener. 

Smith, who has mainly batted in the middle order at No. 4 during his impressive Test career, expressed his desire to open the innings after the retirement of fellow teammate David Warner. Although the selectors gave him the chance, the 35-year-old has yet to make a significant impact.

Smith has averaged 28.5 as a Test opener, which is notably below his career average of 56.97. So far, he has faced the bowling line-ups of West Indies and New Zealand. However, he will face a tougher challenge in the upcoming Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25, where he will encounter a strong Indian bowling attack.

Despite the numbers, Smith remains optimistic about his role as an opener. 

“You’ll have to ask the men in charge but I’m not fussed either way. Some challenging conditions with the new ball, in particular. So I would have liked to score a few more runs,” Smith said.

His best performance as an opener came with a brilliant 91 off 146 balls in the second innings of the second Test against West Indies at Gabba.

Reflecting on that innings, Smith emphasized that the opening position is just a role and doesn’t affect his batting capabilities. 

“That’s the game sometimes but I played pretty well in the second innings at the Gabba where we couldn’t get over the line, unfortunately. It’s just a position to me so it doesn’t really faze me too much,” he further added.