Mumbai: Australia skipper Steve Smith revealed the secret behind the cheeky shot during ICC World Twenty20 that stunned the cricket world. Smith said he knew exactly where Pakistan pacer Wahab Riaz would bowl.
Smith went wide of the off-stump but Wahab kept bowling at him rather than aiming at the stumps. But the former slammed the delivery to the leg side boundary.
The Pakistan speedster had to swallow criticism for not aiming at the exposed stumps but Smith asserted that the shot would have been easier had Wahab bowled at the stumps.
“You look at the field, Wahab was always going to bowl wide. I genuinely think if he had bowled at stumps it would've been an easier shot. I could just tell where it was going to go. When you're in the zone … you can just tell where it's going to go occasionally. That was one of those instances,” said Smith, according to a report in cricket.com.au.
Earlier, Smith played a similar shot against New Zealand in a Test match.
"That's something I've worked on a little bit in the nets. When the time's right and the field's right ... you don't think about doing it, it just sort of happens. Yorkers are hard to get away at the best of times so you've got to try and find a place to hit them,” the report added.
However, Smith’s injury which pulled him out of IPL is not a concern. It is just a swelling and he went back to be 100 per cent fit before donning the Baggy Green. Smith also registered his maiden IPL ton for MS Dhoni-led Rising Pune Supergiants in the ongoing season of the cash-rich league.
The Australian and the left-handed pace machine can recommence their duel once Pakistan head Down Under this year for a three-Test series.
