Australia vs India 2020-21: Best combined XI of T20I series

Steve Smith at No.6:

After a terrific run with the bat in the ODIs in which he slammed two back-to-back match-winning tons, Steve Smith was expected to play a big role in the T20Is as well. He had fairly good batting practice in the IPL before the home series but yet, the former Australia skipper failed to meet the expectations in the shortest format against India. But Smith is too big a player to be ignored from a T20I side.

Smith fell for only 12 off nine deliveries in the first match in Sydney and his dismissal pegged the hosts back in their chase of the target of 162. It was in the second game that the ace batsman, who played at No.3 for the Kangaroos, made his highest score in the series — 46 off 38. Experts, however, would say that the knock was a tad slow and stopped Australia’s progress from posting a 200-plus total. India won that game by 6 wickets to clinch the series. The third game also saw Smith making 24 runs off 23, again a slow show by his standards although this time, Australia emerged winner to make it 1-2.

We choose Smith for the No.6 position in our batting line-up, putting him a slot lower than the in-form Pandya. But a player like him just needs one knock to see himself going up the order. Smith is an asset for any batting line-up although he is not as successful in the two other two formats. Despite his less-than-great show in the T20Is, we still pick him keeping in mind his runs in the ODI series in which he was adjudged the player of the series.