Steve Smith: I employ an unorthodox stance to limit ways of getting out

In a podcast organised by Rajasthan Royals, Smith opens up about his unusual batting technique.

Published : Apr 07, 2020 13:57 IST , New Delhi

Steve Smith ducks under a bouncer during the Ashes series in Sydney, in January, 2018. In the subsequent Ashes held last year, Smith amassed 589 runs.
Steve Smith ducks under a bouncer during the Ashes series in Sydney, in January, 2018. In the subsequent Ashes held last year, Smith amassed 589 runs.
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Steve Smith ducks under a bouncer during the Ashes series in Sydney, in January, 2018. In the subsequent Ashes held last year, Smith amassed 589 runs.

His unorthodox batting stance has left many befuddled but Australia run-machine Steve Smith has revealed he generally positions himself outside the off-stump to limit ways in which he can be dismissed.

Smith, the World No. 1 Test batsman, has amassed 7,227 runs in 73 Tests and 4,162 runs in ODIs with an unconventional technique.

During a podcast organised by inaugural IPL champion Rajasthan Royals, Smith opened up about his unusual technique to New Zealand spinner Ish Sodhi. Talking about his open batting stance, Smith, the former Royals captain, said: “It depends on who’s bowling, how is the wicket playing, how I [am going to] score and stuff like that or how people are trying to get me out, probably that determines how open I am or otherwise how closed I am. But my general stance where my back foot is going to almost off stump, or may be even outside at stages, I know that anything outside my eyeline isn’t hitting the stumps,” he said.

“For me, you shouldn’t get out if the ball is not hitting the stumps, so that is just a trick from me when I first started doing it, just limiting the ways I get out,” he explained.

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The 30-year-old said his off-stump stance helps him leave the ball outside his line of sight. “Sometimes, I get trapped in front but I’m okay with that at stages, knowing that if it is outside my eyeline, I don’t need to try and play the ball, I can just leave that,” he said.

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Smith made a roaring comeback to the Test arena after having been banned for a year due to his role in the infamous ball-tampering scandal in 2018. He was the highest run-getter in Tests in 2019, and amassed 589 runs in the Ashes series.

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