Young all-rounder Steve Smith was on Monday named Australia's captain for the second cricket Test against India, replacing an injury-ravaged Michael Clarke who is unlikely to play in the remaining matches of the ongoing series.
“Cricket Australia has announced that Steven Smith has been appointed vice-captain of the Australian Test team effective immediately and will captain the Australian side in the absence of Michael Clarke,” CA said in a statement.
The 25-year-old, who smashed 162 not out in the first innings and was 52 not out in the second essay of the opening Test which Australia won by 48 runs, thus became the 45th Test captain of the side and one of the youngest ever to take up the role.
Current vice-captain Brad Haddin, who led the Australian side on the final day of the Adelaide Test, will serve as Smith's deputy in Brisbane.
The appointment was recommended by CA's National Selection Panel and was endorsed by CA's Board of Directors on Sunday night. When Clarke returns to the side he will do so as captain with Smith serving as deputy.
“These are difficult circumstances given Michael's injury and the fact that we don't know how long he will be out of the game,” National Selector Rod Marsh said.
“What we do know is that it won't be an overnight fix so after a lot of thought we have taken the opportunity to appoint an emerging young leader as captain until such time as Michael regains fitness and returns to the side.
Explaining the reasons behind not opting for Haddin, Marsh said, “Brad Haddin has done an exceptional job as vice-captain since assuming the role last year and will provide strong support to Steve just as he has done for Michael.”
“There was a strong argument for Brad to assume the captaincy until Michael returns, but given we don't know how long that will be, we felt the time was right to take a longer-term view and give a young player this chance.”
Smith promises aggression
One of the youngest ever to take over as Australia's Test captain, all-rounder Steve Smith said getting elevated to the position was an “amazing thrill” even as he promised to be an aggressive and positive leader in the ongoing Test series against India.
“I am only a temporary solution at the moment since Michael is out injured unfortunately,” the 25-year-old Smith told reporters after his appointment.
Smith, aged 25 years and 195 days, becomes Australia's youngest Test captain since Kim Hughes took over the leadership in March 1979 at 25 years and 57 days. He is the third-youngest in Australian cricket history to get the job — behind Ian Craig who was just 22 when he took over in 1958.
“I have told the boys that I have no intentions of changing any plans. I think we have come a long way and we are playing some good cricket so we are going to continue with that aggressive and positive brand of cricket,” Smith said.
"When we cross the line, we are not friends with the opposition. It's all about going out there and trying to win a cricket game and being as aggressive and positive as we can be. That's something we have done really well recently and I have no intentions of changing the way we are going about our business,” he said.
The baby-faced youngster said he has got the full backing of Clarke, whose cricketing future has been thrown into jeopardy due to nagging hamstring and back injuries.
‘Stop this captaincy debate’
NEW DElHI: Sunil Gavaskar strongly feels that people should restrain themselves from creating a captaincy controversy as MS Dhoni will take over the mantle from stand-in skipper Virat Kohli, in the second cricket Test.
Former Australian captains Ian Chappell and Mark Taylor felt that it was time that Kohli takes over from Dhoni.
However, Gavaskar thinks otherwise.
“We must not create a controversy about who should be the captain as the selectors have clearly named Dhoni as the captain for the series. Kohli was the stand-in captain and there is no debate about Dhoni being the captain in the remaining three Test matches,” Gavaskar said on Monday. “We should not create issues for Dhoni but we should be happy that Kohli has improved as captain. We are creating a question as it suits everybody.”