Australia's Steve Smith bats for including T10 cricket in future Olympic Games

Former captain of the Australian cricket team, Steve Smith said he would love to see cricket being included in the Olympic games in the near future.

The Australian cricketer made the statement during a live Q&A session with his Instagram followers. Currently, Smith is recovering from an elbow injury and was not part of Australia’s limited-overs team which played matches in the West Indies and Bangladesh.

Steve Smith bats for cricket in Olympics 

When a fan asked the former Australian skipper about his thoughts regarding the inclusion of cricket at the Olympics, Smith said he believes that the T10 cricket format could be part of it and he would love to see cricket teams compete at the Olympics. "I’d love to see cricket in the Olympics, maybe like a T10 or something. It’s a shorter game and it’ll be outstanding,” Smith said. The T10 format in cricket is currently played in the United Arab Emirates. The country hosts the Abu Dhabi T10 league.

Steve Smith says Bumrah among top four bowlers 

Talking about his favourite bowlers, Smith revealed that Australian pacer Pat Cummins, India's Jasprit Bumrah, South African bowler Kagiso Rabada, and English veteran James Anderson would claim the top four spots on his list of the world's best bowlers at the moment. He said, "It's hard to go with just one as there are plenty of amazing bowlers around the world. Jimmy Anderson just taking his six hundred and somethingth wicket, Pat Cummins, Bumrah, Rabada, I will say probably they are top four. (sic)" 

Steve Smith performance this year

Steve Smith was last seen in action for Delhi Capitals during the first phase of IPL 2021, which was postponed following the outbreak of COVID-19 inside camps. The cricketer is expected to join his IPL franchise for the second leg of the tournament, which is scheduled to begin on September 19 in the UAE. Smith recently made himself unavailable for two bilateral series against West Indies and Bangladesh due to his elbow injury. 

The upcoming T20 World Cup is also slated to take place in the UAE, and Smith is expected to be a part of the Australian team. Two other Australian players who did not play in the West Indies and Bangladesh are also expected to join the national squad for the marquee ICC event.