New Delhi, Nov 19, 2024, IANS

New Delhi, Nov 19 (IANS) Former Australia allrounder Shane Watson has expressed confidence in Steve Smith's abilities to bring the best version of him in the upcoming five-Test series against India starting on Friday in Perth. Smith, who struggled as an opener, will return to his usual No. 4 spot in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy after Nathan McSweeney was finalised as Usman Khawaja's opening partner for the red-ball format. After David Warner's retirement, Smith was elevated to the opening role - the move that didn't go well for the Australian team as the former captain struggled with only 171 runs in four Tests at an average of 28.50 including an unbeaten 91 against West Indies. "Steve wanted to open. He was super keen to take up a new challenge. But one thing with that opportunity he had was he wasn’t actually batting at his best at that time. So he got an opportunity to open and Steve Smith at his very best would have made the most out of it because he just loves scoring runs whether it is opening or at No 4. You could see it a few times he got out when he was opening -- his game and his technique was a little bit off," Watson said on Willow Talk Cricket Podcast. In the recent ODI series against Pakistan, Smith scored 44 and 35 runs to give a glimpse of his talent before the all-important series against India. "In the one-day series (against Pakistan), in one of the innings at the MCG -- wow, it looked like the very best of him. Jeez, he had so much time and had all the shots. I’m confident that Smith would bring that version of him into this summer and whether he bats at No 4 or opening, he will score runs,” Watson added. In 109 Tests, Smith has scored 9685 runs at an impressive average of 56.97. He has accumulated 32 centuries and 41 half-centuries in the red-ball format. The right-handed batter is the fourth-highest run-scorer for Australia in Test cricket only behind Ricky Ponting, Allan Border and Steve Waugh.