Sir Donald Bradman:<\/b> Former Australia white-ball captain Aaron Finch has called Steve Smith the best player he has ever played with in his playing career, adding that his transformation from a leg-spin bowling all-rounder into one of the world\u2019s finest batters has happened due to a rare mix of natural gift, hard work and an unshakeable belief in his own methods.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Smith started as a leg-spinner who batted at number eight and was seen as a potential successor to the legendary Shane Warne. But he has turned out to be Australia's best batter since Sir Donald Bradman, and even held the top spot in Test batters' rankings, apart from captaining the side in all formats.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<\/p>\r\n\r\n
\u201cSteve Smith went from being touted as Shane Warne\u2019s replacement, starting at eight in the batting order, bowling a few overs of leg spin, getting the odd runs as the finisher. Then something changed overnight. He turned into this absolute gun of a batter that took the world by storm.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<\/p>\r\n\r\n
\u201cHe was always a handsy player with big movements, moving his feet a lot. Then he simplified that and everything clicked. All the talk initially about him was a bowling all-rounder who\u2019s ready to become the next big thing in Australian cricket, but then something clicked with his batting in Test cricket, and he worked it out.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<\/p>\r\n\r\n
\u201cThe ability to go from number six and five for so long and then slip into number four in the batting order was extraordinary. He\u2019s the best player I\u2019ve ever played with by a mile. He says, I\u2019m doing it this way; I don\u2019t care what it looks like to the outside world. This is what will make me most successful.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<\/p>\r\n\r\n
\u201cThat is a superpower. To see what he does when others can\u2019t, you can\u2019t explain why players like me or David Warner couldn\u2019t do it, but he could. It\u2019s a natural gift, but also hard work, the hours he\u2019s put in. It\u2019s extraordinary,\u201d Finch said on Cricinfo\u2019s \u2018Cricketers on Cricketers\u2019 show.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Smith\u2019s career in international cricket was marred by the 2018 ball-tampering scandal in Cape Town, which led to him being banned from the game for 12 months. He also had to serve a two-year ban from taking any leadership role before becoming the vice-captain to current Test skipper Pat Cummins.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Finch, who led Australia to 2021 Men\u2019s T20 World Cup triumph, felt being free of the captaincy helped Smith, though he admitted to initially finding it hard to lead the side when the premier right-handed batter was in the team without the leadership armband. <\/p>\r\n\r\n<\/p>\r\n\r\n
\u201cAfter the 2018 incident, coming back into the international setup, Steve Smith was more relaxed as a player because he didn\u2019t have the captaincy for obvious reasons. As captain, so much of your time goes into things away from your own game.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<\/p>\r\n\r\n
\u201cAnd then getting the amount of work he wanted done put extra pressure on him mentally, because you need to get this much work done to feel ready to go, but you\u2019ve still got to worry about everybody else.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<\/p>\r\n\r\n
\u201cSo finding that balance, not having that captaincy pressure post 2018, was probably a weight off his shoulders because he sits there and goes, now I can just worry about myself.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<\/p>\r\n\r\n
\u201cI found it really difficult to captain with him in the side at the start, because I\u2019d played under him for quite a bit of time and tactically, I thought he was an outstanding captain. So, I found myself at times being like, is this the right move? What would Smith think? And then one day he just said, why do you keep asking me? Just make your own decision,\u201d he elaborated.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Finch also picked Smith\u2019s batting in the knockout stages of the 2015 ODI World Cup, which Australia won on home soil, as one of his fondest memories of playing alongside him. <\/p>\r\n\r\n<\/p>\r\n\r\n
\u201cOne of my favourite memories of playing with Steve Smith is the ICC Men\u2019s Cricket World Cup of 2015, when he was turning into a beast of a batter, batting at number three. Everyone remembers the quarter-final between Australia and Pakistan for Wahab Riaz vs Shane Watson, but batting at the other end was Steve Smith.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<\/p>\r\n\r\n
\u201cIt was like he was batting with a stump. He was making Wahab look like medium pace. And then we go to the semi-final against India, and he gets a hundred off 89 balls, and he batted like a dream, and then he played an unbeaten knock of 56 in the final against New Zealand. He didn\u2019t show even one bit of nervousness in those three games.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<\/p>\r\n\r\n
\u201cOne of my favourite memories of playing with Steve Smith is the ICC Men\u2019s Cricket World Cup of 2015, when he was turning into a beast of a batter, batting at number three. Everyone remembers the quarter-final between Australia and Pakistan for Wahab Riaz vs Shane Watson, but batting at the other end was Steve Smith.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Also Read: <\/b> Special Cricket Stories<\/a><\/p>\r\n\r\n