I developed a liking for this young bloke with a rather small head and a quick eye. His name was Steve Smith. He had this unusual way of going about his business. And it made him quickly stand out from everyone else. Years followed and his out-of-the-box performances gravitated me towards it. And then the upsetting day came in the March of 2018. The captains of the Australian team as their ship sailed along Cape Town came on the verge of drowning.
The captain; Steve Smith, Vice-Captain; David Warner, and the talk of the town; Cameron Bancroft were banned lightly by the ICC but Cricket Australia had other motives. Cricket Australia banned Steve and David each for 1 year and Bancroft for 9 months, on the charges for ball-tampering. It is a method to exploit the ball in your favor. That is against the spirit of the game. They weren't allowed to play international cricket for a year. A huge shock and loss to the cricketing world.
He was despised by the crowd, fans were shocked, and the opposition sat back and watched it all burn to hell. He was handled by the SA police and later he broke down at the press conference in front of his dad. A year later after all the humiliation, setback, and a lot of lesson learning, he was back at the international platform. He made his way back with the World Cup of 2019, in England. England and Australia are frenemies. They booed him, abused him, and called him names. He had a decent world cup, but then came the Ashes (England Vs Australia). There, we saw who Steve Smith can really be.
The crowd was vocal, and they booed him but he kept his mental state right and batted and batted. England team and crowd were frustrated. They just couldn't get him out in that series. They tried to bad mouth him but they didn't succeed. He cancelled all the noise and got immersed in his bubble. Later in an interview, he said, with the crowd so wild, and against him, it made him focus more. It pushed him further to prove a point. Such a key lesson that we have to absorb here. I remember I had my first-year board exams at the time and my mom said to turn off the TV and go to study. I told her "I will turn it off, once Steve Smith gets out." And that TV would be on for hours. Because we weren't going to see the back of him any sooner.
His work ethic and hunger for the game has made him who he is. And most importantly, how he handled the ones who wanted his downfall. He ignored them and kept doing what he did best. It isn't as easy as it seemed, because it didn't work out very well for the remaining two of the men. David looks rusty and still hasn't come back to his usual game. And Cameron, well, that bloke doesn't even play anymore. But again, not everyone is Steve Smith.
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