Steve Smith's form has been indifferent lately: Ricky Ponting

Former Australian skipper Ricky Ponting has expressed concerns over the batting form of Steve Smith but backed him to come out of his form slump as Australia gear up to tour India for a four-match Test series early next year.

Meanwhile, the three-time World Cup winner has said that Smith’s batting technique is not a cause of concern, but the opposition teams have somehow sorted out a way to apply brakes on the former top-ranked Test batter’s free-flowing batting. However, what bothers Ponting is the fact that in the last couple of years, Steve has been unable to get high scores consistently and his inability to register four to five centuries in a Test match calendar year.

I have watched Steve Smith quite closely: Ricky Ponting

”The best way to describe it is, it (Smith’s form) has been indifferent. For four or five years, he has been so incredibly consistent, making consistently high scores, making four, five, or six hundreds in a Test match calendar year and he hasn’t been able to do that in the last couple of years,” said Ponting on ‘The ICC Review.’

”I have watched him quite closely, and I don’t think there is anything technically there that has changed too much. Opposition teams maybe have finally started to work out the way they can slow him down from scoring quickly or have found some ways to attack him and get him out,” he added.

Steve Smith currently has 28 Test centuries to his name. His recent ton came in an away series against Sri Lanka earlier this month. This was also his first century in red-ball cricket after the home series against India in January 2021.

The Australian batting mainstay would be expected to rediscover his mojo by the time the tour of India comes around as Australia would be looking to register their first red-ball series victory on Indian soil after the 2004/05 season. Moreover, the win would help the Pat Cummins-led side in qualifying for their maiden ICC WTC final.