{"id":168334,"date":"2025-06-08T19:14:11","date_gmt":"2025-06-08T19:14:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/168334\/"},"modified":"2025-06-08T19:14:11","modified_gmt":"2025-06-08T19:14:11","slug":"steve-smith-reveals-let-go-of-batting-after-missing-mohammed-shamis-full-toss","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/168334\/","title":{"rendered":"Steve Smith Reveals: ‘Let Go Of Batting After Missing Mohammed Shami’s Full Toss’"},"content":{"rendered":"

Last Updated:June 08, 2025, 12:48 IST<\/p>\n

Steve Smith has revealed that he stopped one of his favorite habits — shadow batting — immediately after he missed the full-toss against Mohammed Shami in the Champions Trophy.\"Steve<\/p>\n

Steve Smith losing his stumps to Mohammed Shami’s full-toss in the 2025 Champions Trophy. (PC: AFP)<\/p>\n

Australia star Steve Smith has revealed that he let go of one of his favorite things, shadow batting, after getting out to Mohammed Shami\u2019s full-toss in the 2025 Champions Trophy semi-final against India. Speaking in an interview on Sunday, he said he hadn\u2019t \u2018hit a ball\u2019 after the incident in the lead-up to the World Test Championship summit clash against South Africa, which begins at Lord\u2019s on June 11.<\/p>\n

Smith\u2019s wicket for 73 (96) in 37th over of the first innings was a pivotal moment in the game. Australia were bowled out for a slightly sub-par 264, which India chased down in the 49th over with only three wickets to spare. The right-hander retired from ODI cricket soon after and spent three months in New York, working on his fitness, away from several of his teammates who played T20 leagues or domestic cricket.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019d normally have a bat laying around the house somewhere and just pick it up and do a bit of shadow batting and stuff. But I made a conscious decision to try and just let it go for a while. It was good. I hadn\u2019t hit a ball since I missed a full toss off Mohammed Shami in the Champions Trophy.<\/p>\n

\u201cFortunately, everything sort of clicked into place immediately. I feel like I\u2019m moving really well, I feel strong and just ready to get into it now. Normally, how it works is my first hit\u2019s good, my second hit\u2019s awful, and then I\u2019d get better from there. But both hits were just really good and I was like, hopefully it doesn\u2019t turn around now and I don\u2019t have to spend hours in the nets the next couple of days,” Smith was quoted as saying by ESPNCricinfo.<\/p>\n

Smith also spoke about how Michael Hussey\u2019s recent impact on his career, with the former Australia legend imbuing a \u2018less is more\u2019 philosophy into him during his form lull before the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re a bit older, we\u2019ve hit a lot of balls. It\u2019s about having that mental side as switched on as it can be for the big moments. And you don\u2019t want to use up all your energy in the nets. There\u2019s a fine balance, of course. I\u2019m someone that needs to feel really prepared.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd I don\u2019t want to leave any stone unturned in my preparation so that when I go to the middle, I\u2019m ready to play. But I\u2019ve also got to realise that the older you get, the mental side I think probably wears a little bit thinner on you. And you\u2019ve got to try and be in the best space you can be in the middle to bat for long periods of time. Sometimes I might get the balance wrong. But when you\u2019re hitting the ball well, you can sort of do what you want in terms of your preparation in a way. You can just let it be and trust that when you get to the middle, it\u2019s all going to be okay,” Smith said.<\/p>\n

\"authorimg\"Cricketnext Staff<\/a><\/p>\n

A team of reporters, writers and editors brings you news, analyses, features, live scores, results, stats and everything that\u2019s cricket from all over the globe. Follow @cricketnext<\/p>\n

A team of reporters, writers and editors brings you news, analyses, features, live scores, results, stats and everything that\u2019s cricket from all over the globe. Follow @cricketnext <\/p>\n