Happy Birthday Steve Smith: A look at his best moments in IPL

Former Aussie skipper Steve Smith is known for his fine batting technique and exceptional footwork. He has led the Australian side to victory on many crucial occasions. Smith’s journey has been quite uncertain as he has faced numerous ups and downs during his career. From being accused in the ball-tampering scandal to remaining unsold in the latest season of the Indian Premier League, the star batter has had his share of controversies. [caption id=“attachment_8810831” align=“alignnone” width=“640”]  File image of Steve Smith. AP[/caption] Steve Smith made his IPL debut for Pune Warriors in 2012. He spent two seasons there and scored 521 runs in 22 games. After Pune, he joined Rajasthan Royals in 2014 and stayed there for two editions. After Rajasthan Royals got banned from IPL, Smith was bought by the new Pune-based franchise, Rising Pune Supergiants. In 2019, Rajasthan Royals bought him back and named him the captain of the squad. As the RR skipper, he recorded 319 and 311 runs in the 2019 and 2020 edition, respectively. After Rajasthan released him ahead of the 2021 edition, Delhi Capitals bought the Australian batter in the IPL mega auction.  Playing 8 games for Delhi, Smith scored 152 runs. Delhi did not retain the right-handed batter and he was put on the auction list for a base price of Rs 2 crore but he remained unsold in this year’s auction. Smith has already completed playing 100-plus matches in IPL for different franchises. In his 103 outings so far, Smith has scored a total of 2,485 runs at a 30-plus batting average. During his decade long-IPL journey, he has slammed 11 fifties and a ton. The top-order batter turns 33 today (2 June). On his birthday, let’s take a look at his noteworthy  performances in IPL:

• 101 runs off 54 balls for Rising Pune Supergiants against Gujarat Lions in 2016: The maiden and only century from Steve Smith’s bat came in a game against Gujarat Lions in 2016. Opening the innings with Ajinkya Rahane, Smith remained unbeaten at 101. His knock helped his side put up 195 runs on board. However, Gujarat clinched the victory on the last ball.
• 84 runs off 54 balls for Rising Pune Supergiants against Mumbai Indians in 2017: While chasing down 185 runs, Smith stitched a 58-run partnership with fellow opener Ajinkya Rahane. After the dismissal of Rahane in the 10th over, Smith steered the innings composedly and snatched the victory with one ball left to spare. During his 84-run knock, the Aussie batter smashed seven boundaries and three maximums.
• 79 runs off 53 balls for Rajasthan Royals against Mumbai Indians in 2015: Batting first, Mumbai Indians had posted 164 runs and the chase had not started well for the Royals. Coming in the fifth over, Smith stitched a good partnership with Rahane, and then with Shreyas Iyer to win the game. The 79-run knock of Smith was laced with 8 fours and 1 six.
• 73 runs off 59 balls for Rajasthan Royals against Kolkata Knight Riders in 2019: After missing the 2018 season, it was Smith’s fifth match of his comeback season when he stitched a 72-run partnership with Jos Buttler and led the Royals to put up 139 runs in 20 overs. However, the score was not worth-fighting in front of the formidable batting unit of KKR and Kolkata won the match by 8 wickets.
• 50 runs off 32 balls for Rajasthan Royals against Delhi Capitals in 2019: Powered by Rahane’s devastating ton and Smith’s 32-ball 50, Rajasthan registered 191 runs in the first innings. Rahane and Smith recorded a 130-run partnership on the second wicket. However, the Rishabh Pant-led Delhi chased down the target in 19.2 overs.

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