After his return to Test cricket following a year-long ban, it seemed Steve Smith could nothing wrong. That was until he came up against his old rival Yasir Shah at the Gabba, Brisbane in the first Test. Going into the game, the wily leg spinner had claimed Smith’s scalp six times in five matches. In Australia’s first innings, he outfoxed the No. 1 Test batsman in the world by bowling him out for just four runs.
If the rare failure was not enough, then Yasir Shah raised seven fingers to celebrate by rubbing in the fact that he had dismissed Smith seven times until now.
Talking about the second Test in Adelaide, Smith acknowledged that this celebration of Shah has egged him not to give the spinner another chance.
“It gave me a bit more motivation next game to not get out to him,” Smith replied when he was asked about Yasir Shah’s seven-finger gesture.
“I’ll be a little bit more disciplined against him,” he added.
Nevertheless, Smith did not think that Yasir Shah had his number. The ace batsman said that he got out many times to the spinner because he was trying to up the tempo and get quick runs.
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“It was interesting. A few of the times he’s got me out, I’ve been on a few runs and been slogging. There’s been a couple of second innings ones where I was playing some funky shots. So I’m not too worried,” he said.
Yasir was praised by Smith for picking up four wickets on a pitch that did not provide much assistance to spinners.
“I thought he bowled well at the Gabba, got some good drift and a little bit of a spin on a wicket that wasn’t spinning that much. He bowled well, and we’re going have to play him well this game,” Smith said.
Australia beat Pakistan comfortably by an innings and five runs to lead the two-match Test series 1-0.
The next Test match in Adelaide, which will be a day-night affair, will start on Friday.
