Australia Former Captain Steve Smith has announced his retirement from One-Day Internationals (ODIs) following Australia’s Champions Trophy semi-final match against India on March 4. Smith confirmed he will continue playing Test and T20 Cricket, Prioritizing the World Test Championship. The Two-time World Cup winner expressed gratitude to his teammated and fans for their support. Steve Smith said ”It has been a great ride, and i have loved every minute of it, there have been so many fantastic team-mates who shared the journey,” he added in a media release shared by Cricket Australia.
Smith was Australia’s top-scoring batter in the Semi-Final, 73round off 96 balls. With Smith quitting the ODI format and not a central figure in the team’s T20 setup, the Test format is the only platform where the batter would be seen in action. Australia have already been in a phase of rebuild after David Warner’s retirement last year, but now have to find a capable player to fill in the big boots of Steve Smith as well.