'They’re the two big mountains to climb': Steve Smith on winning Test series in Ind & Eng

Steve Smith has said that he wishes to be a part of Australia's Test series triumphs in India and England respectively. The Aussies had registered a series win on Indian soil way back in the 2004/05 season under the then stand-in captain Adam Gilchrist and since then have failed to beat India in their own backyard in 2008/09, 2010/11, 2012-13, and, 2016-17 seasons respectively. Smith had captained the Australian side in the 2017 Test series where he had helped the visitors draw first blood by scoring a match-winning ton on a rank-turner at Pune. However, Kohli & Co. came back strongly to win the four-match series 2-1. Steve had scored three centuries in that series.

'They’re the two big mountains to climb': Steve Smith

“They are the two big mountains to climb and if you can do that, it would be pretty special. Hopefully, I get another crack at it, we’ll see how we go,” said Smith while talking to cricket.com.au.

”I’m getting a bit old now. You never know how long I’ve got left, and you never know what the future holds. But it’s certainly something to strive for, that’s for sure", the top-ranked Test batsman added.

Steve Smith's dream English summer

Australia have not won a Test series on English soil since 2001. They had drawn the Ashes series against their arch-rivals last year and retained the 'Urn' as the top-ranked side had won the previous edition of the iconic series in Australia in the 2017/18 season. The Aussies were in a commanding position in the five-match Test series last summer. They registered a lopsided win in the first Test. The second Test ended in a stalemate with England settling scores in the third Test. 

Tim Paine & Co. then secured the series by winning the fourth match and were one step away from sealing the series. However, a spirited English side spoiled the party with some stellar performances in all three departments in the fifth and final Test as the series was leveled at 2-2.

Personally, it was a dream summer for Steve as he amassed 774 runs in eight innings and had also received a hostile reception from the English crowd during that whole series. 

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(Image Courtesy: AP)