Steve Smith's dressing room blow-up comes to light after second Test disaster
The Aussie superstar was absolutely seething after he was part of a collapse of 9-48 against India.
Aussie batting coach Michael Di Venuto has revealed Steve Smith's furious reaction to his dismissal in the second Test against India, which helped trigger a shocking collapse of 9-48. Smith was one of six Aussie batters who were dismissed while playing the sweep shot in the second innings as Ravi Jadeja ran riot with seven wickets.
Speaking to reporters on Tuesday night, Di Venuto described Smith's decision to try and sweep Ravi Ashwin as 'unusual' after he was trapped lbw by the prolific Indian spinner. Smith's dismissal seemed to open the floodgates for India, with Marnus Labuschagne, Matt Renshaw, Peter Handscomb and Pat Cummins falling in quick succession to leave the Aussies reeling at 7-95.
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Di Venuto said Smith was absolutely seething when he returned to the dressing room and let his frustrations out in an angry blow-up. “He was certainly disappointed when he got out and he made it known that it was a poor shot in the dressing room,” Di Venuto said.
“I think most people would have heard that, they should have had a fair idea of what not to do. It was just one of those moments in the game when you’re under pressure from world class bowlers, things happen sometimes, it’s unusual for him.”
Di Venuto said Smith would be bitterly disappointed by his start to the four-match series, with the Aussies already trailing 2-0 and no chance to win the Border-Gavaskar trophy. In 2017, Smith amassed 499 runs at an average of 71.28 with three centuries. This time around he has 71 runs at an average of 23.66.
"He got knocked over in the first innings here (in Delhi) and played an unusual shot for him in the second," Di Venuto said. "Just when the game was set up for our best two players of spin - Marnus (Labuschagne) and 'Smudge' (Smith) at the crease in that situation with the field back.
"It was unusual, I havent' spoken to him about it yet or exactly where he's at, he's away for a couple of days at the moment. He's excited about these conditions, he loves these conditions, it would be a frustrating for him at the moment that he hasn't had the impact he would have liked."
Mark Taylor 'shocked' by Steve Smith dismissal
A plethora of cricket greats were left in disbelief at the manner in which the Aussies collapsed. But according to Di Venuto there wasn't much the Aussie batters could have done differently.
“It was a like a car crash in slow motion isn’t it,” he said. “I wish there was and generally it happens and it’s already happened and it’s like what has just happened there. You guys saw exactly what we saw. It’s just constant panic and people moving everywhere.
“You lose a wicket, you never want to go bang-bang and lose two. And in this country it’s easy to get knocked over early and then it’s just about trying to get that next partnership and calming the waters a little bit. The other day we lost four wickets on 95. Something like that. It just kept on happening.”
Speaking on Monday, former Aussie captain Mark Taylor said Smith's dismissal via a sweep shot 'shocked' him. "The dismissal that shocked me the most was Steve Smith playing that sweep shot because it's not a shot he plays often. That looked a shot of desperation to me," Taylor told 2GB's Wide World of Sports Radio. "I would be saying to our batters, 'Just get back to basics. Get back to a simple plan that you think is going to work when the ball starts to turn and see how that goes'."
with AAP
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