DUBAI: Steve Smith may not count as a power-hitter but Australia captain Aaron Finch expects the veteran batter to make a big impact at the Twenty20 World Cup Finch leads a slightly undercooked Australia side after several frontline players skipped their recent white-ball tours of West Indies and Bangladesh.

Smith sat out the tours to recover from an elbow injury and has since had a minor role for his Delhi franchise, who got knocked out in the IPL playoff on Wednesday.

“He’s someone who can be really adaptable through that middle overs,” Finch said at a pre-World Cup media session on Thursday. “Having his 360 [degree] ability around the ground, to play spin so well, and [being] an unbelievable fielder ... he provides us with a lot of options, and a lot of flexibility.”

Known for his unusual trigger movement at the crease, Smith’s approach to scoring maybe different but it was equally, if not more, effective, argued Finch.

“He’s someone who can really go about T20 cricket a little bit different to your general guys who stand there and try and clear the rope. He’s someone who can manipulate the ball to different areas and get a really similar result, and sometimes even better results just by doing it a little different way.”

Published in Dawn, October 15th, 2021