Steve Smith makes the ugliest hundreds I’ve ever seen: Jonty Rhodes

Steve Smith doesn’t posses a batting technique straight out of the copybook. In a bid to unsettle the bowlers, the right-hander shuffles across a lot in the crease, but the antics have given him loads of success at the highest level. Recently, the Sydney-born became the leading run-scorer in the 2019 Ashes where he mustered 774 runs in seven innings at a gigantic average of 110.57.

The surprising element was that he didn’t get bat in three innings during the series, yet he topped the charts with Ben Stokes, the second highest run-getter, 333 runs below his tally. Of late, there has been a constant debate over who’s a better batsman between Smith and Virat Kohli, the Indian skipper. Lately, former South African cricketer Jonty Rhodes had his say over the same.

Oh! How on earth can he hit that?

Jonty enjoys Virat plying his trade in the middle. Moreover, he said that Smith’s centuries are the ‘ugliest’ he has ever seen. “I enjoy watching Virat Kohli. Steve Smith, with that action and technique, makes the ugliest hundreds I have ever seen but the man just keeps scoring runs,” Rhodes was quoted as saying in an exclusive interview with The New Indian Express.

Rhodes praised Virat for playing strokes, which are pleasing to the eyes. “Someone who likes to watch cricket would want to say ‘Wow! What an amazing shot’ as opposed to ‘Oh! How on earth can he hit that?’ So Virat Kohli right now,” he added.

From the end of March 2018, Smith didn’t play Test cricket for 16 months and before the start of the Ashes, he was fourth in ICC’s rankings for batsmen. But within a month, Smith reclaimed his top spot, surpassing Kohli. Currently, he is 34 points ahead of Kohli in the rankings. Virat got a duck in the last innings of the Jamaica Test versus the West Indies and that pushed him down to second.

He will have a chance to make amends as India are scheduled to lock horns with South Africa in a Test series, starting October 2 in Visakhapatnam. It will also be India’s second assignment in the ICC World Test Championship. As far as Smith is concerned, he was Australia’s Player of the Series in the Ashes in England. The Aussies managed to retain the urn on the backs of Smith’s brilliance.

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