Home
Former Australian skipper Steve Smith has been ruled out of the remainder of five-T20I series against Sri Lanka after suffering concussion during the second T20I on February 13. Smith got concussed while attempting a catch on the boundary in the final over of Sri Lanka’s run chase.
On fourth delivery of the final over, Maheesh Theekshana hit Marcus Stoinis over deep mid-wicket. Patrolling the boundary, Smith tried to parry it back into play but the ball landed outside the boundary. It was a terrific attempt from Smith but ended in vain.
After the attempt at boundary, the medical staff rushed to Smith's aid. After initial checkup, he walked on the field while the game went into super over. The 32-year-old will have to follow low-level concussion protocols for the next few days. He is expected to be out of action for a week.
“Thanks everyone for reaching out. My head has felt better but I will be ok,” Smith tweeted.
The six off fourth delivery of final over gave Australia a major scare as the game headed into the super over. Hazlewood ensured that Australia win the match in super over easily. The frontline fast bowler gave just five runs from the over.
After the game, 'player of the match' Josh Hazlewood shared that he was concerned as Smith did not get up immediately after the dive.
Earlier Smith scored 14 runs from 15 deliveries in the first innings. He lost his wicket to Dushmantha Chameera.
This is also the second time Smith has suffered concussion in international cricket. The last time he got concussed was when Jofra Archer’s bouncer hit him on the head in Ashes 2019. The hit on the head ruled him out of one Test in the historic series which ended in 2-2. The episode also led to the rise of Marnus Labuschagne who walked in as Smith’s concussion substitute.
Smith suffered another blow last week as he went unsold in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022 mega auction in Bengaluru. He had a base price of Rs 2 crore. Last season, he featured for Delhi Capitals (DC).
