Shamik Chakrabarty in Dubai
There was a period in the game when Steve Smith faced 10 consecutive dot balls. It didn’t ruffle him. He broke the shackles with a four off Varun Chakravarthy followed by a six against Ravindra Jadeja. A couple to deep extra cover against Varun took him to his 35th ODI half-century. Forget the numbers, Smith was giving a masterclass of playing spin on a difficult Dubai pitch.
It was fascinating to watch – the way he was exploring options and making decisions. The gaps he was looking for to score and the shots he was avoiding. Finally, a batsman was reading Varun off his hand. He did that to Kuldeep Yadav also. His footwork resembled that of a craftsman at the Bolshoi Theatre. When a master is at work, getting the better of the conditions and the opposition bowling, that is probably the most fulfilling sight in cricket.
Travis Head was always strong-armed enough to take the game away from India in the first Powerplay, after getting a reprieve in the first legal delivery of the match – a caught-and-bowled opportunity but probably a half-chance by Mohammed Shami’s fielding standards. The fast bowler later made amends by dismissing Smith when the Australia captain was looking set for a hundred. Also, after a long time, Shami looked to be hitting the bat hard. But the first half of the match belonged to Smith.
For a marauding Head, Varun had to be India’s antidote. The opener was deceived in the air and was holed out at long-off. Smith came and immediately used his feet against Axar Patel. And as he started to read Varun from the hand, the spinner decided to alter his length, becoming less effective in the process.
An inside edge against Axar thudded into the pads and the ball spun back to hit the off stump. But the bails didn’t fall. Lady Luck smiled on him and thank goodness it did, for Smith’s innings was too good to be nipped in the bud.
He forced Rohit Sharma to bring Shami back into the attack and a chance ensued. But the bowler dropped it in this follow-through – another half-chance by Shami’s standards. There were plays-and-misses – an attempted falling scoop which he didn’t connect. In between, Smith was manoeuvring the field with absolute precision and was running India ragged.
Smith scored 73 off 96 balls, with just four fours and a six. But the way he was rotating the strike, it helped his team go over five runs per over in the middle phase. It was an uncharted territory for India in this Champions Trophy.
Smith’s dismissal was an anti-climax, a full-toss knocking down off stump. Until then, he was concentration personified and it was a momentary lapse. From India’s perspective, that was the moment when they got back into the game. The great batsman was pushing them to the edge.