I knew where Wahab Riaz was going to bowl: Steven Smith

Australian skipper Steven Smith reveals the secret behind his cheeky shot off the bowling of Wahab Riaz during ICC World T20 match against Pakistan. Smith went wide of the off-stump and Wahab followed the batsman rather than aiming at the stumps. But Smith slammed the delivery to the leg side boundary using his strong wrists.

The Pakistan pacer faced a lot of criticism for not aiming at the exposed stumps but Smith asserted that the shot would have been easier had Wahab bowled at the stumps.

“You look at the field, Wahab was always going to bowl wide. I genuinely think if he had bowled at stumps it would’ve been an easier shot. I could just tell where it was going to go. When you’re in the zone … you can just tell where it’s going to go occasionally. That was one of those instances,” said Smith, according to a report in cricket.com.au.

Earlier, Steve Smith had played a similar shot against New Zealand in a Test match.

“That’s something I’ve worked on a little bit in the nets. When the time’s right and the field’s right … you don’t think about doing it, it just sort of happens. Yorkers are hard to get away at the best of times so you’ve got to try and find a place to hit them,” he added.

The Australian skipper in all formats also spoke about the success of first ‘day-night’ Test last year, but stressed improvements are also needed. ”I thought if there was two millimetres less grass (on the pitch) it would’ve been a four-day game instead of a three-day game. The ball still has got a few issues. You need to keep grass on the wicket to keep the ball together, which I don’t particularly like, but we’re trying to work our way though that as much as possible to make sure we keep it going.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K_MQjT_Im3g&feature=youtu.be

Also read – Umpire Nadir Shah hit on the forehead during Dhaka Premier League match