‘Everyone is allowed to have a bit of lack of form’ – David Warner backs Steve Smith after the latter’s dip in form

Australian batsman David Warner has backed Steve Smith after the latter’s form slump in the ongoing Border Gavaskar Trophy. Smith has looked awfully short of rhythm, scoring only 10 runs in the four innings at a dismal average of 3.33.

Even as on two occasions, Ravi Ashwin accounted for his wicket, fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah dismissed him once in the Boxing Day Test at the MCG. However, despite Smith’s dip in form, his Test average stands at 61.33, showing how much dominant he has been in the longest format.

Recently, even New Zealand’s Kane Williamson, the newly-crowned ICC’s number-one ranked Test batsman, lauded Smith as one of the best in the business. Warner stated that a dip in form is something that happens to everyone and there’s nothing much to worry about.

Warner also recalled his bad times when he was finding it tough to score in the double digits during the 2019 Ashes against England where Stuart Broad was dismissing him for fun.

Warner speaks in favour of Steve Smith

“Steve Smith has been recently knocked off by Kane Williamson as the best batter in the world (ICC ranking), but if you look at his numbers, he still averages over 60. Everyone is allowed to have a bit of lack of form and I saw that myself when I was in England (Ashes 2019),” Warner told in a virtual news conference on Saturday.

“On a day, if you have your name on that delivery, it is what it is and you can’t do anything about it. As you can see that it’s not due to lack of preparation as the guy (Smith) doesn’t get out of nets. He works off his backside all the time,” he stated.

Warner also talked about not allowing the opposition bowlers to build pressure. The veteran said that apart from throwing the bat at the ball, there are also other ways of showing intent.

“If you allow very good attacks, which both these teams have, to dictate their terms, without applying pressure, then it becomes difficult to score. Both teams have lacked a bit of fluency at the top in two Tests,” Warner added.

The third and penultimate Test gets underway on Thursday, January 7 at the iconic Sydney Cricket Ground.