Australian batting supremo Steve Smith has expressed that teammates Usman Khawaja and Marnus Labuschagne’s hatred against him was the significant reason behind his return to the erstwhile No.4 position in Test.
Steve Smith, who himself had put his name forward to open the batting for Australia in Tests alongside Usman Khawaja amid David Warner’s retirement from international cricket, said that he relished the experiment. However, Smith’s stint at the top of the order was short-lived after national selection chair George Bailey confirmed that Smith will return to this No.4 position.
The shift in the batting order was prompted due to the injury to Cameron Green, who has been ruled out of the summer. Smith also said that he is glad to return to his ‘ideal’ position.
"I got asked where I'd prefer to bat, and I said four … I also said I'm happy batting wherever, I'm not really too fussed," Steve Smith told reporters on Monday as quoted by cricket.com.au.
"I got asked (by Cummins, McDonald) where my preference would be, and I said four. I saw a few things last week saying that I've requested to bat at four. That wasn't the case. I said I'm happy to bat wherever you'd like me to bat, but yeah, four would be my ideal position,” Smith said.
Smith also opened up about Usman Khawaja and Marnus Labuschagne who, according to him, hated him batting up the order.
“Obviously there's a spot there now with Greeny out. Conversations we had after New Zealand, with particularly Marnus and Uzzie, they hated me up top, to be honest. They wanted me behind them. So that was a big part of it. And then obviously I've got a decent record at four."
"It was good fun having a crack at something new, batting up top. I still feel like I could do a job there for sure. It was a pretty small sample size. But I've done pretty well at four for a number of years now. I feel like it's probably where I can have my best input for this team at the moment."