Steven Smith credits IPL for his success
Extraordinarily talented Australian batsman, Steven Smith, credited the Indian Premier League (IPL) for helping him to develop his game and adapt to pressure situations.
In the International stage, Smith has been in the form of his life as he has scored runs consistently in all the three formats of the game (ODI, Test,T20) .The right-handed batsman would turnout for Rajasthan Royals in the 2015 season, said that the IPL has been a great learning experience for him:
"I have really enjoyed being involved in the IPL. It's been a great learning experience," Smith told an Indian Daily.
"I got the exposure to the subcontinent conditions. It is nice to be playing with and against the best players all around the world and learning from them." he added.
Facing the same situations repeatedly helped to succeed: Smith
The right-handed batsmen then went on to talk about how he devloped his game while facing competitive situations in the IPL:
"Another positive is that you face the same situations again and again.You play competitive matches quite close to each other. You might not do the right thing one day, but you face the same situation again and you might succeed then.”
Recent sucess in International Cricket
The 25-year old Smith started the Australian summer (thanks to Micheal Clarke’s hamstring injury) with the series against South Africa, wherein he scored 254 runs in four matches at an average of 84.66. He then led Australia to a 2-0 Test series victory over arch rivals India where regular captain Clarke injured himself in the first Test in Adelaide yet again. Since then there has been no looking back for Smith as he went on to score a whopping 769 runs at an average of 128.17 in the 4-Test series against India. He later scored 226 runs at 75.33 in the Carlton Mid ODI Tri-Series against India and England. He was monumental in Australia’s road to the World Cup 2015 victory with five successive 50+ scores which included a century against India in the semi-final.
Indian Premier League (IPL) Career
In the Indian Premier League (IPL) , Smith represented the Royal Challengers Bangalore in 2010 before being taken by the Kochi Tuskers Kerala in 2011, but had to give the tournament a miss due to an ankle injury. He then moved to Pune Warriors India in 2012 where he captained the side as well, for a short period. Finally, he was bought by Rajasthan Royals in the 2014 edition where he blossomed as a batsman.
The Aussie is also a more than handy leg spinner and one of the best fielders in the world at the moment. Here are his batting statistics in the IPL:
| M | Inn | Runs | HS | Avg. | SR | NO | 100 | 50 | 4s | 6s |
| 32 | 28 | 668 | 48 | 39.29 | 131.24 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 52 | 22 |