What is Steve Smith record against India in ODIs?
Australia’s run machine Steve Smith is all set to return to action during the ODI series against India after missing out on the South Africa tour. The right-handed batter was ruled out of the series against the Proteas due to a wrist injury but is now fit and raring to go.
The 34-year-old’s last cricketing assignment was the five-match Ashes series in England. Smith had a decent series, scoring 373 runs in 10 innings at an average of 37.30 as the closely contested five-match series finished with a 2-2 scoreline. Smith scored a hundred in the second Test at Lord’s and signed off with half-centuries in both innings of the last Test at The Oval.
With the 2023 ODI World Cup coming up in India, the former Australian captain will be keen to hit his groove during the three-match series against the Men in Blue. Speaking on the eve of the series, he asserted that he is feeling like a million bucks now.
How has Steve Smith fared against India in ODIs?
It is no secret that loves batting against India and his record is proof of the same. Speaking of his one-day numbers against the Men in Blue, Smith has played 24 matches against India and has scored 1145 runs at an average of 57.25, with five hundreds.
Eleven of the 24 games have been held in Australia in which the batter has notched up 683 runs at an average of 68.30, with four tons. In India, Smith has scored 393 runs in 12 matches, averaging 43.66, with one hundred to his name. He has played one game against India at a neutral venue, which was the 2019 World Cup clash at The Oval. Smith scored 69 off 70 balls, but Australia ended up losing the match by 36 runs.
The right-handed batter’s highest score against India in ODIs is 149, which was registered in Perth in January 2016. Australia won the game by five wickets, chasing 310 in 49.2 overs. Smith’s other centuries in ODIs against India are as follows - 105 in Sydney (March 2005), 131 in Bengaluru (January 2020), 105 in Sydney (November 2020) and 104 in Sydney (November 2020).
The last three tons came in consecutive matches against India. After his 131 off 132 in Bengaluru, his 105 came off 66 balls in the first ODI in Sydney. He smashed 104 off 64 deliveries in the second ODI at the same venue.
The last time the Aussie faced India in an ODI, though, he was dismissed for a duck in Chennai in March this year.