Having started his career as a leg spinner and a tail-ender in international cricket, Steve Smith rode on his consistency to become the number one Test batsman in ICC Rankings. He made his debut against Pakistan in 2010 at the 'Mecca of Cricket' Lord's. It was a disastrous debut for the former Australian skipper as he scored 1 and 12 runs in successive innings, though he was decent with the bowl as he picked up three wickets in second innings while he did not get chance to ball in the first innings.
He marked his name in international cricket in 2013 Ashes, where he scored his first Test century at Oval. Despite having an unorthodox batting stance, Smith suddenly started dominating Test cricket as he has the ability to play both fast and spin bowlers. The 2014-2015 series against India was the path-breaking series for the Aussie as he scored four centuries. It was in the same summer when he was appointed as Australia's 45th Test captain in place of injured Michael Clarke.
Everything was going right for the right-handed batsman but suddenly life took a U-turn and he got involved in the ball-tampering scandal with his two Australia teammates David Warner and Cameron Bancroft. The scandal, which rocked the cricket world, happened during a Test match against South Africa. Smith and Warner are suspended for One year while the young fast bowler Bancroft is suspended for nine months.
R Ashwin opened up on retirement and mentioned that the 'farewell Test' is an overrated concept and that he didn't want to harm the combination while BCCI has brought back the 14-day limit on families travelling with Indian players on tours. Here's a look at the top 10 sports stories on January 15.
Sydney Sixers rode on returning Steve Smith to slam their highest Big Bash League score of 220/3 against the Perth Scorchers at the SCG on Saturday, January 11. Smith smashed his third BBL ton as it felt like he didn't go away from the tournament any time.
Steve Smith returned to form during the Test series against India recently and scored a brilliant century in Brisbane at Gabba. But he couldn't tick off a 'cool milestone' in his illustrious Test career missing it by just a solitary run in Sydney Test.
Australia's stand-in captain Steve Smith has played a huge role in getting Cooper Connolly a Test call-up for their upcoming tour of Sri Lanka. Connolly is a left-handed all-rounder who bowls spin but has played only four first-class matches so far. Why was he picked then? Smith reveals
Australia's regular captain Pat Cummins will miss the Sri Lanka tour to remain at home for the birth of his second child and will also manage his ankle injury. Meanwhile, Steve Smith has been named the captain for the two-match Test series against Sri Lanka.
Cricket Australia reached an agreement with the Big Bash League over player availability for the rest of the season, which included limited availability for some players, regular season for others and a few getting ruled out. Australian Test players are set to leave on January 20 for the SL series.
India hung around like a bad smell in the fifth and final Test against Australia in Sydney with Prasidh Krishna picking up three wickets. One of the victims was Steve Smith and rather significant one as Krishna didn't let him complete 10,000 Test runs as the Australian batter fell one run short.
Steve Smith scored 33 runs off 57 balls in the first innings of the fifth Test match against India and missed out on a historic 10000 Test runs milestone by 5 runs on Saturday. Smith became the first Australia to become the victim of 9990s in Tests.
India had lost both the openers early on before the scare for Virat Kohli on the first ball he faced from Scott Boland. India had won the toss and opted to bat first with stand-in captain Jasprit Bumrah confirming that regular skipped Rohit Sharma 'opted to rest' for the Sydney Test.
With World Test Championship (WTC) points at stake and an outside chance of making it to the final, the Indian team will be keen to square the five-match series against Australia in Sydney. Australia are 2-1 ahead after an 184-run win in the Boxing Day Test at the MCG.
Australia skipper Pat Cummins is set to lead Australia in the fifth and final Test going through the entire home summer unscathed. Australia are set to tour Sri Lanka after the India series but they might have to play under the new captain with Cummins expected to miss.
IND vs AUS: India and Australia are currently facing each other in the fourth Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. At the end of Day 2, the hosts are on top having reduced India to 164/5 after posting 474 runs on the board.
India TV Sports Wrap on December 27: From all the kabaddi action to the cricketing circuit, here are all the top 10 trending sports news stories and the latest happenings from the world of sports on December 27.
Steve Smith also brought up his fifth Test hundred at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG). He now has more Test centuries than Alan Border at the iconic venue. Notably, this is Smith's second consecutive hundred in the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
Australia took the honours on Day 1 of the Boxing Day Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground with the hosts scoring 311 runs. India had a scope to fight back after they got three wickets for just nine runs during a passage of play but Steve Smith with an unbeaten 68 is still a massive threat.
KL Rahul was on his way to playing one of the hundreds of a lifetime by an Indian batter in Australia but it wasn't to be as Steve Smith redeemed himself by plucking a blinder to dismiss the most solid-looking player for the visitors in the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy on Day 4 of the Gabba Test.
IND vs AUS 3rd Test Day 2: Travis Head continued his red-hot form with another big century while Steve Smith ended his poor run of form with his 33rd Test hundred as Australia reached 405 total despite Jasprit Bumrah taking a five-wicket haul for India.
Steve Smith stitched a massive 241-run partnership alongside Travis Head for the fourth wicket as Australia strengthened their position with the bat on the second day of the Gabba Test against India. With the century, Smith also inched closer to Ricky Ponting for Australians with the most hundreds.
Steve Smith has moved to the second spot on the list of players with the most Test centuries for Australia. Smith has surpassed former Australia captain Steve Waugh after scoring his 33rd Test hundred.
India and Australia are all geared up to take on each other in a pink-ball Test at the Adelaide Oval from December 6. Therefore, let's look at the leading run-getters in pink-ball Tests before the second match of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.