Shane Warne slams Australian selectors for including Steve Smith in the T20 team in T20 World Cup match vs England
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The ongoing Super 12, Group 1 match of the ICC Mens T20 World Cup between two Cricket powerhouses- England and Australia has got off to an unexpected start at the Dubai International stadium. Having put into bat by English skipper Eoin Morgan after winning the Toss, the Aussie batting line up have got off to the worst possible start, given the way their openers- Aaron Finch and David Warner had batted in the previous encounter versus Sri Lanka.
At the end of the Powerplay, Australia were reeling at 21/3- the lowest powerplay score in the Super 12 stage so far, with David Warner (1 off 2), Steven Smith(1 off 5), and in form Glenn Maxwell (6 off 9) back in the hut.
The performance so far has drawn the ire of the Aussie fans on social media, and more so from the legendary Aussie leg spinner Shane Warne who has even gone on to comment that Steven Smith shouldn’t feature in the playing 11 of the current Australian set up.
Shane Warne expresses disappointment over Steve Smith’s inclusion in Playing 11
Not touted as one of the the smooth flowing batters by the fans and experts when it comes to T20 Cricket, Steve Smith has now found a new vocal critic in Shane Warne who took to social media to express his disappointment at the Aussie selectors for including the 32-year-old in the playing 11.
Smith had yet another poor outing with the bat as he played a horrible shot to a short delivery by English pacer Chris Jordan (Over 2.1) to get caught at mid-on. He just managed to open his account only to get dismissed after playing just the five deliveries with the swinging new ball.
Warne even went on to suggest that a player of Mitchell Marsh’s caliber just cannot be dropped from the playing 11 and that Smith should have paved way for him in today’s crucial encounter versus tournament favourites England.
The 52-year-old also questioned the Australian team’s tactics of sending Glenn Maxwell in the powerplay and ahead of all rounder Marcus Stoinis- who is more suited and experienced playing during the powerplay against the new ball.
At the time of writing the Australians were scoring at only 5 runs per over with only 4 overs remaining in the innings and more than half their side back in the hut.
