Australia batter Steve Smith has been ruled out of the upcoming tour of South Africa due to a wrist injury. It is not for the first time when Smith has suffered an injury to his wrist. For the very same reason, he was ruled out of Indian Premier League 2016 while playing for Rising Pune Supergiants.
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Seven years ago, he had suffered a blow to his right wrist, whereas it is the left one this time around. Set to be out of action for at least four weeks, he is expected to attain optimum fitness ahead of ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 in India. For the unversed, Smith had first suffered discomfort during the fourth Ashes 2023 Test match against England at the Old Trafford last month.
Steve Smith Ruled Out Of South Africa Tour Due To Wrist Injury
11 days after being named in both the Australian white-ball squads, Smith won’t be travelling to South Africa now. Former Australia captain and current chairman of selectors George Bailey laid emphasis on the World Cup whilst stating why they’ve decided to rest someone of Smith’s importance.
“With the World Cup the priority of the squad, it was determined on advice that it was best for Steve [Smith] and Mitchell [Starc] to join the group in India by which time we expect them to be fully fit and available for the Indian ODI series, plus the World Cup warm-up fixture,” Bailey said as quoted by cricket.com.au.
Confirmed to open the batting for the first time in international cricket during a three-match T20I series, Smith’s absence will force the team management to rethink their plans. For the uninitiated, he was terrific as an opener during his latest Big Bash League stint with Sydney Sixers earlier this year. In five innings, he had scored 346 runs at an average and strike rate of 86.50 and 174.74 respectively including two centuries and a half-century.
As a result, an experiment around Smith as an opener will have to wait at least till November 2023 when Australia will play a five-match T20I series in India. As far as the immediate assignment is concerned, batters such as Travis Head, Matthew Short, Josh Inglis and Marcus Stoinis could open the innings.
Who Has Replaced Steve Smith For South Africa Tour?
Batter Ashton Turner has replaced Smith in the T20I squad, whereas he has been replaced by Marnus Labuschagne for the ODI leg of the tour. Turner last played for Australia in a T20I against Bangladesh a couple of years ago. Having led Perth Scorchers to a couple of BBL titles, it would be safe to assume that the 30-year old player has been rewarded for solid domestic performances.
Currently representing Manchester Originals in The Hundred 2023, Turner will be cutting-short his stint for a national comeback. Not in the best of forms though, he had scored just 69 runs across six games.
Readers must note that Smith was replaced by Aussie teammate Usman Khawaja at Pune back then. With the franchise having also lost out on overseas batters namely Kevin Pietersen, Mitchell Marsh and Faf du Plessis, it was imperative for them to include an overseas replacement.
