Senile Sentry
International Debutant
I am aware of the dichotomy in Tendulkar's stats in Aus but I fail to see the relevance here. Tendulkar faced some real ATG attacks with a pathetic team around him (for at least 2 tours) not to mention the many times he was sawn off by Bucknor and Co.Yeah the tactic used by Smith and attempted by the rest was to never be beaten on the inside edge and never chase balls. It kinda paid off.
Hate to break it to you but Sachin averaged 35 in Australia outside the SCG, over 15 tests in 5 tours. The SCG brings his average up to 53 in Australia, given he scored half his centuries there. In fact, in most of those tours the SCG test was a dead rubber.
Or to put it slightly differently, Smith scored as many tests in India in a single tour as Sachin did away from the SCG in 5 tours.
Fact remains that on the most result oriented surfaces, on this tour, Smith came up short and well worked out by Indian bowlers - to a plan. If anything, it exposed that with excellent planning and execution, Smith can be made to look ordinary. Also it established that the margins to achieve the same are so less - the moment it tips in the slightest in his favour, Smith will seize it make it really count - a hallmark of a great player.
I regard Smith as rightfully the greatest test batsman in a long time. Just that Indian bowlers elevated themselves to levels seldom seen before to thwart him successfully.