It would be a stretch to call Steve Smith’s recent form a “slump”, but Usman Khawaja says any notion that there’s a problem at all is wrong.
Smith has taken to the crease 13 times since he last reached triple digits in a Test match, but had scores of 81, 36, 55, 12, 93, 6, 16, 67, 23, 0, 27, 78, and 72 in that time period – hardly anything to worry about.
Day one at Lahore looked like it might finally be the day he broke the drought, and while Smith started brightly, for a seventh time in succession, the former Test captain failed to convert a half-century into a ton, Naseem Shah trapping him lbw on 59.
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Usman Khawaja, who was at the other end for the entirety of Smith’s innings, said his old state teammate was unlucky.
“I’ve been there, it’s not fun when it happens,” he said of the dismissal.
“It’s almost like in slow motion. You bowl that again and he’s hitting it 99 out of 100 times, or 100 out of 100 times. The bat just got stuck, a little bit unlucky.”
Khawaja – who also fell short of a ton, dismissed for 91 – said that he was sure Smith was frustrated by his recent inability to capitalise on half-centuries – but that there was no need to panic.
“He is, in my opinion, the greatest batsman I’ve seen in my era, averaging 60 pretty much his whole Test career,” Khawaja said.
“I’m still in awe in how many runs he’s scored over a long period of time.”
Khawaja laughed at the idea of Smith’s lack of centuries being scrutinised, citing those recent promising starts as reason not to worry.
“I’m sure once he gets a big score, more big scores (will come). The fact he’s getting those 60s, 70s, he’s looking really good with the bat,” he said.
Australia will resume on day two at 5-232, with both sides searching for a win that would claim the series in their favour, after both of the first two Tests were drawn.
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