Five players to watch out for in the Australia-New Zealand Test series

Steve Smith

The recently concluded series against Pakistan finally proved that Steve Smith is only a human. However, it came with a price as the former Australian captain slipped to number two, losing his number one Test ranking to Virat Kohli. Smith could manage only 40 runs across two Tests against Pakistan, having endured a rare series with no fifty-plus scores to his name.

Without any shadow of a doubt, the pace attack of the BlackCaps would challenge their batsman way higher than the Pakistan bowlers could. Under these circumstances, Smith would find himself performing a rescue mission at least once by playing a marathon inning to mark his return to Tests in Australia.

The New South Wales-born averages a daunting 67.88 in five Tests against New Zealand. The battle between Steve Smith and New Zealand’s pacers, especially the left-arm speedster Neil Wagner, who has troubled most of the batsmen in recent times, would be an intriguing one.