'He's not having much go his way at the moment' - Ricky Ponting opens on Steve Smith's struggling form

India is up against Australia for the second Test match of the Border Gavaskar series in Melbourne. What remains to be a concern for hosts on this tour is the struggling form of their star batsman Steve Smith. Smith’s numbers in Test cricket boast an incredible record about the classy batter, but he seems to have hit a rough patch during the current Test series. In the same light, Australia’s assistant coach Ricky Ponting believes that Smith will get over this phase soon.

Ponting added that Steve really needs to come back to his usual form to face the fierce bowling attack of Indians. Smith came up with a dismal show in the first Test match too, and in the second game, he went back after a duck in the first innings and gathered just eight runs in the second innings.

“He’s not having much go his way at the moment. I think he would have liked to have his time over with his first-inning dismissal here, he would have played that differently. But he’s one of the all-time greats of the game. Everyone is allowed to have a few bad games here and there. The one thing I do know is that Australia need Steven Smith to stand up, especially against this bowling attack India have,” said Ponting as quoted by India Today.

Steve Smith has just 10 run in two Test games of the series

Smith has gathered just 10- runs in the four innings of two Test matches so far. He averages 3.33, the lowest one in the Australian squad. In the latest innings, he was dismissed by India’s star pacer Jasprit Bumrah while the delivery went behind his leg. Ravi Ashwin has also managed to send him back to the pavilion twice in this Test series. He bagged two straight centuries in the limited-overs series.

“The two one-day hundreds he made were as good as I’ve ever seen him play. Knowing what he’s like when he gets into that groove and as he talks about ‘finding his hands’, I thought that would flow over into this series, and it hasn’t yet,” concluded Ponting.