Steve Smith Likely To Return To No. 3 Batting Spot For ODI Series Vs India

Smith will return to bat at the crucial position for the series opener for Australia for the first time since 2018. The three ODIs will be played on January 14, 17 and 19 in Mumbai, Rajkot and Bengaluru

Steve Smith Will Return To His Preferable No. 3 Batting Spot For Series Vs India / Photo: AFP

New Delhi: Australia's prolific batsman Steve Smith will bat at his preferred number three batting spot when his national squad will take on team India in the three-match ODI series, starting on Tuesday. Smith will return to bat at the crucial position for the series opener for Australia for the first time since 2018. The three ODIs will be played on January 14, 17 and 19 in Mumbai, Rajkot and Bengaluru. "There is a fair chance Steve Smith will bat No.3," interim coach Andrew McDonald told AAP as per a report in cricket.com.au. "The top three fall into Warner, Finch and Smith. "And then the conversations start about how we will go through the middle and what balance team we want to play." Smith batting at number three spot means Marnus Labuschagne - who arguably is the form player in the world - will play in the middle order if he debuts in the 1st ODI at Mumbai. Meanwhile, D'Arcy Short is another option Aussies have on the tour. "You look at the guys I look up to and aspire to -- Steve Smith, Virat Kohli, Kane Williamson, Joe Root. They've been doing it for a very long time, five, six years they've been consistent, not just in one format, but two or more formats," Labuschagne told ESPNcricinfo. "So for me personally there's a lot to learn and a lot to grow because I've had some success this summer but the real challenge for me is to be more consistent going on and being able to keep putting continued performances on the board." The 25-year-old rocketed up to third in the ICC Test batting rankings on the back of an Australian record 896 runs across five Test matches at home this summer. Squads: Australia squad: Aaron Finch (c), Ashton Agar, Alex Carey (vc), Pat Cummins (vc), Peter Handscomb, Josh Hazlewood, Marnus Labuschagne, Kane Richardson, D'Arcy Short, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Ashton Turner, David Warner, Adam Zampa India squad: Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul, Shreyas Iyer, Manish Pandey, Kedar Jadhav, Rishabh Pant (wicketkeeper), Shivam Dube, Ravindra Jadeja, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Navdeep Saini, Jasprit Bumrah, Shardul Thakur, Mohammed Shami.