"He has the tools to play well in those conditions" - Mark Taylor reckons leaving Steve Smith out from T20 World Cup 2024 squad was a wrong call
Former Australian captain Mark Taylor reckons the national team needed a player like Steven Smith in their T20 World Cup 2024 squad to control the game on slow and turning wickets. Taylor believes the right-hander is more skilled than most Aussie players to counter the turning ball.
Australia's promising T20 World Cup 2024 campaign derailed with a shocking loss to Afghanistan in Kingstown. Chasing 149 for victory, only Glenn Maxwell passed the half-century mark as the former champions crumbled under pressure.
Speaking to Wide World of Sports, the 59-year-old observed:
"I still think Australia should have picked Steve Smith and I thought that when they first left him out of the squad. If you look at the Afghanistan game, when you get a slow, turning wicket as they did, I would want Steve Smith in my side. He has the tools to play well in those conditions more than most players in that Australian side, if not all of them."
Taylor feels slow and turning surfaces demand players who are technically sound.
"That's where I think Australia missed out. Smith batting anywhere from four to seven would have been better than the players that we had on a slow, turning wicket. If you get those sorts of surfaces, you want players who are good batters and not just necessarily good hitters," he added.
With Smith misfiring by playing in different positions before the World Cup and not featuring in IPL 2024 either, the selectors did not pick him. Instead, they went ahead with Marcus Stoinis and Tim David, but the duo failed to fire in crucial matches.
"I think that was a 50/50 call" - Mark Taylor on not playing Jake Fraser-McGurk
With Australia sticking with David Warner instead of blooding in Jake Fraser-McGurk, the New South Wales lad said it didn't make much of a difference to the result.
"With the Fraser-McGurk and Warner thing, I think that was a 50/50 call. You could have gone either way and mounted a good case either way on who should play," he said.
Warner retired from all forms of international cricket after the tournament, managing only nine runs in his last two innings.