In modern-day cricket, one of the most prized scalps is that of Steve Smith’s in Test cricket. Arguably the best in the whites, Smith is renowned for being unforgiving for the bowlers, who relentlessly have tried to castle him over the years, but failed to break through his defences.
Smith’s unorthodox-yet-effective technique has helped him pile a mountain of runs, with extreme consistency.
However, Indian pacer S. Sreesanth, who is trying to put his contention in the Indian team, has claimed to uproot the middle-stump of Smith, and then follow it up by saying ‘thank you’.
Sreesanth was recently selected for Kerala Ranji team, to make his contentions valid for staging an international comeback. His ban ends on September 2020.
The two-time World Cup-winning pacer has not played any competitive cricket since 2013 when the infamous IPL spot-fixing case emerged. Sreesanth, along with two other Rajasthan Royals’ (RR), was found guilty for which BCCI handed him a life-ban.
“I am just waiting for my comeback to uproot Smith’s middle stump and say ‘Thank You Smith’,” Sreesanth told Crictracker. Further, Sree was quizzed about the better of two – Virat Kohli or Steve Smith. To which Sree went ahead with Kohli.
“Anyday it is Virat Kohli. I respect Virat for his work ethics. In fact, Steve Smith also worked hard, but Virat is at next level. From 2013 to 2020, Virat Kohli carried Indian cricket on his shoulders. Being No.1 for so many days is pretty incredible. There’s no comparison,” Sree replied.
The 36-year-old past heroics at the international level included feisty performances against the Australian side.
Sree was renowned for getting riled up whenever facing the Aussies. His celebrations post dismissals of Matthew Hayden, Andrew Symonds, and Adam Gilchrist were some of the most animated ones.
In fact, during a match between India and Australia at Kochi, back in 2007, Sree was involved in a scuffle with Symonds, who did not acknowledge the former’s agitated celebrations.
