‘Marnus and Uzzie hated me up top’ - Steve Smith on being back as Australia's Test number four

Steve Smith, who was promoted as opener after David Warner retired from Test cricket, will be back at number four in the upcoming Border-Gavaskar Trophy. He could not impress much at the top of the order and now with Cameron Green ruled out of the India series, Australia need to strengthen their middle-order. In that light, captain Pat Cummins and head coach Andrew McDonald decided to bring back Smith at number four.

The star Australia batter has stated that he never communicated to the team management about moving down but when he was asked about his "ideal position", he expressed about the number four spot. The former captain added that he is open to bat in any position for the team but understands the current situation with Green missing out.

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“I got asked (by coach and captain) where I'd prefer to bat, and I said (at) four. I didn't ask (to move) though. I also said I'm happy batting wherever. I'm not really too fussed. I got asked where my preference would be, and I said four. I saw a few things last week saying that I've requested to bat at four. That wasn't the case. I said I'm happy to bat wherever you'd like me to bat but, yeah, four would be my ideal position,” Smith was quoted as saying by ESPNcricinfo.

“Obviously there's a spot there now with Greeny (Cameron Green) out. And I think just conversations we had after New Zealand with particularly Marnus and Uzi, they hated me up top, to be honest. They wanted me behind them. They just like the...they call it security behind them, in a way. They were pretty strong on me not batting there. So that was a big part of it. And then obviously, I've got a decent record at four,” he added.

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Meanwhile, Smith also mentioned that he enjoyed his time batting at the top and believes he would succeed at that position if handed more opportunities.