"This is huge" - Aakash Chopra on Steve Smith leading Australia in 3rd IND vs AUS Test

Aakash Chopra has termed Steve Smith captaining Australia in the third Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2023 a huge development.

The penultimate Test between India and Australia will be played at the Holkar Stadium in Indore from Wednesday, March 1. With Pat Cummins returning home for personal reasons and being unavailable for the game, Smith will be leading the Aussies, who are 2-0 down in the four-match series.

In a video shared on his YouTube channel, Chopra highlighted the significance of the development, saying:

"Pat Cummins is not there, so Steve Smith is set to lead Australia. I mean, this is huge. He was obviously not there once in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy - Sandpapergate and all of that - but he is back again."

The former Indian opener pointed out that the general perception was that Smith might not be seen captaining Australia after his ball-tampering ban, observing:

"There was a time when Australia decided that he might not be seen captaining again. There was a time-period ban to start with and there was a life ban on (David) Warner.

"When the period was over, everyone believed that he would not be made the captain again, but things change as time elapses."

Chopra recalled the modern batting great's match-winning century as skipper during the last Border-Gavaskar Trophy on Indian soil, elaborating:

"Steve Smith was the one when the Border-Gavaskar Trophy happened last time here. I remember the brain fade match in Bangalore and the Pune match where he defeated India single-handedly. Steve O'Keefe and Steve Smith laid heavy on us."

Smith played a 109-run knock in Australia's second innings of the first Test in Pune in February 2017. The visitors registered an emphatic 333-run win, with Steve O'Keefe picking up 12 wickets in the match.

"His bat has been slightly quiet in this series thus far" - Aakash Chopra on Steve Smith

Steve Smith has aggregated 71 runs in four innings in the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy. [P/C: BCCI]

Chopra highlighted that Smith has had an underwhelming first two Tests with the bat in the ongoing series, stating:

"His bat has been slightly quiet in this series thus far. He seemed to be batting well in both innings of the first match and that he might score runs but the second match was absolutely cold."

Steve Smith is a different beast when he's Captain and especially against India

Runs - 3793
Avg - 67.73
100s - 15
50+ 14

And he's going to lead Australia in Indore, May be in Ahmedabad as well

#INDvAUS #INDvsAUS https://t.co/lcugPr2mEo

However, the cricketer-turned-commentator reckons the stand-in Australian skipper might come good on the usually batting-friendly Indore pitch. He asked Rohit Sharma and Co. to be slightly wary of Smith, as the latter would also have the added responsibility of captaincy.