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Steve Smith

Steve Smith is one of the 15 players who have been named in the Australia squad to play the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 in England and Wales. Steve Smith, who made his one-day international debut on 19-Feb-10, had played 108 ODI matches until the 2019 World Cup. In the 94 innings he batted in, he had scored a total of 3431 runs, having faced 3973 balls, at an average of 41.84 and a strike rate of 86.36. He was unbeaten in 12 of those innings. His highest score in an innings was 164. He had 8 centuries and 19 half-centuries to his name. In the bowling department, Steve Smith had bowled 1046 balls and taken 27 wickets while conceding a total of 931 runs. He had an average of 34.48 and an economy rate of 5.34 His best ODI bowling performance was 3/16.

Teams: Australia, Royal Challengers Bangalore, New South Wales, Worcestershire, Kochi Tuskers Kerala, Sydney Sixers, Pune Warriors, Antigua Hawksbills, Australians, Rajasthan Royals, Sydney Thunder, Rising Pune Supergiant, Toronto Nationals, Barbados Tridents, Comilla Victorians
 
Steve Smith first made it to the Australian national team as a leg spinner but later played primarily as a batsman. He took over Australia’s captaincy from Michael Clarke in late 2015. In March 2018, Smith was widely criticised for overseeing a ball tampering incident against South Africa and was removed from captaincy. Later Cricket Australia (CA) banned him from all forms of international and domestic cricket for a year. Also, he will not be able to lead the national side for one more year after his suspension expires.
 
ODI career
 
Smith made his One Day International (ODI) debut against Windies at Melbourne Cricket ground  on February 19, 2010. In the 2015 ICC World Cup, he scored the most number of consecutive fifty-plus scores (5) in the World Cup history. The fastest Australian batsman to reach 3,000 ODI runs, Smith has scored a total of 3,431 runs in 94 innings of 108 matches at an average of 41.84 and a strike rate of 86.36. He has had eight hundreds and 19 fifties to his credit. In bowling, he has taken 27 wickets, conceding over 5 runs an over.

 
IPL career
 
Steve Smith was bought by Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) for the 3rd edition of Indian Premier League (IPL). During the IPL 2011 player auction, he was taken by Kochi Tuskers Kerala for $200,000 but ruled out of matches due to an ankle injury. In the IPL 2012 player auction, he was bagged by Sahara Pune Warriors. In IPL 2014, he was picked by Rajasthan Royals for $600,000 and given the captaincy for the latter half of the tournament. He guided his franchise to some significant victories and ensured a playoff berth. During Rajasthan Royals’ 2-year suspension, Rising Pune Supergaint bagged him at the same base price and appointed him captain for IPL 2017. Ahead of IPL 2018, he was named the captain of Rajasthan Royals. However, following his admission of involvement in a ball-tampering controversy, it was later announced by the Jaipur-based franchise that Smith would stand down from that role. Across the editions of IPL that Smith has featured in so far, he has played 81 matches and scored 2,022 runs at an average of 37.44 and a strike rate of 128.95. He has a century and 8 half-centuries against his name, and his best score has been 101.
 
T20I career
 
Steve Smith made his T20 International debut against Pakistan at Melbourne Cricket ground on February 5, 2010. He has so far scored 431 runs in 25 innings at an average of 21.55 and a strike rate of 122.44, with two fifties. As a bowler, he has 17 wickets at an average of 22.24, with 3 for 20 being his best bowling figures.
 
Test career
 
Smith made his Test debut against Pakistan at Lord’s cricket ground in London on July 13, 2010. He won the ICC Test Player of the Year twice -- in 2015 and 2017 -- for playing some exemplary knocks. He scored his maiden Test century against England during the 2013 Ashes Series at The Oval with a six. He became the sixth Australian to reach his maiden Test hundred with a six. He achieved the second-best Test batting rating of 947 on December 30, 2017, next only to Don Bradman’s 961. He is only the second batsman to score more than 1,000 runs in Test cricket in four consecutive calendar years. He is also Australia’s youngest batsman to reach 6,000 runs in Test cricket. He has so far amassed 6,199 runs in 117 innings at a superb average of 61.38, with two double hundreds, 23 centuries and 24 fifties.

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