Australia’s top batsman Steve Smith clearly hasn’t been up to the mark in the ongoing Border Gavaskar Trophy series. The right-handed batsman impressed everyone by scoring consecutive centuries in the ODI series against India.

But his performance in the Test series is shocking considering a player of his stature. The No.1 ranked Test batsman scored just 1 run in the first innings of the pink-ball Test at the Adelaide Oval. Then again, he carried the same form in the second Test as well.

The former Australian captain was dismissed for a duck in the first innings of the MCG Test. Smith faced pressure early on in the innings and failed to get off the mark as he fell prey to Ravichandran Ashwin’s bowling.

India’s stand-in captain Ajinkya Rahane made smart field placement and the tactical move paid off. Ravi Ashwin bowled slightly towards the leg side which tempted Smith to nudge it towards leg-slip. But, he wasn’t aware of Pujara’s position.

Pujara who was standing in leg-slip responded to the situation pretty quickly as he took a smart catch in his safe pair of hands. Smith departed without scoring a run in the first innings. The right-handed batsman once again continued his disastrous form in the second innings.

After Australia lost Joe Burns and Marnus Labuschagne, Steve Smith was tasked to deliver the much-needed amends in the second innings. Aussies were desperately finding ways to take the game from the visitors.

However, Indians came up with another brilliant strategy to dismiss the top batsman. Rahane brought Jasprit Bumrah into the attack at the right time. The fast bowler did full justice with the ball by getting rid of Australia’s best batsman.

Bumrah who took 4 wickets in the first innings delivered an absolute peach of an in-dipper to Smith. The 31-year-old was outclassed by the delivery as he was clean bowled by Bumrah. Smith departed after making just 8 runs.

Watch the video below:

Gee whiz – Jasprit Bumrah with the feather touch to dismiss Steve Smith! @hcltech | #AUSvIND pic.twitter.com/soi7Qrf4gs

— cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) December 28, 2020

Australia are in big trouble at the moment. They already lost 6 wickets after scoring 133 runs. The hosts are leading by 2 runs with two more days to go. Cameron Green and Pat Cummins are batting on 17 and 15.

Indian bowlers would be looking forward to taking the rest of the wickets soon. They have a great chance to level the series on Day 4.

“Captaincy is all about backing your instinct. You’ve got to back your gut feeling. Credit to the bowlers, they bowled in the right areas. When asked about his knock, Rahane said: “It was really special. Getting a century always is.

This game is not over yet, still have to get four more wickets. When asked about the run-out, Rahane said: “I initially thought I was in. I told him (Jadeja) not to worry about my run out and to do keep doing well.”