Steve Smith is arguably the finest captain across several formats of cricket. He ventured into captaincy once again after his proven involvement in a ball-tampering controversy in South Africa in 2018 that imposed a one-year ban from inclusion in Playing Xi and a two-year ban as a captain. Smith stayed unstoppable in the race to score runs with his comeback in the Ashes in 2019.
With back-to-back centuries, Steve Smith has proven that the team needs him not just in the squad but as a captain. Australia chose him as a Test format skipper to mark him as the 45th Australian player to look after test captaincy. There are more responsibilities on a captain’s shoulders, but Steve Smith did not hesitate and continued to produce runs from the bat, which fixed his place in the team. Talking about international career, Smith has been a captain in Tests, ODIs, and T20Is with result-oriented performance prior to the need for readjustment in the squad.
As a demanding captain, the IPL franchise Rajasthan Royals (RR) appointed Steve Smith as a stand-in captain for some matches held in seasons from 2014 to 2015. He replaced Shane Watson, but his full-time captaincy came around in 2020. His captaincy stint reflected mixed results as there was no major gap between the number of winning and losing matches. In 2019, the RR management reappointed him in place of Ajinkya Rahane. Before this move, Steve Smith was associated with the Rising Pune Supergiant (RPS) in 2017, taking the team to the final but could not clinch the title.
In other T20 leagues, Smith has captained Sydney Sixers to lift the trophy in the first edition of the Big Bash League (BBL), a turning point in his career taking place in 2011-12. Also, he pushed Washington Freedom to the first Major League Cricket (MCL) victory in 2024. In this article, we will delve into Steve Smith’s captaincy records across several formats of Cricket.
Steve Smith as a Captain in Test Format
Australia cricket team management decided to name Steve Smith as a Test captain as successor of Michael Clarke in the year 2015. Smith made a comeback as a Test captain in year 2021 and acted as a vice-captain in the five test matches series in 2021-22 against England, which is also called as Ashes series. His captaincy in the second match of that Ashes series was conducive to the result, taking Australia to a winning side. As a remarkable achievement, Steve Smith’s team emerged as a winner in the World Test Championship 2023, facing off with India in an extremely important match. As a Test captain, Steve Smith won 23 games out of 40 fixtures, resulting in 57.50 as the winning percentage.
| Matches | Won | Lost | W/L | W% | L% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 40 | 23 | 10 | 2.3 | 57.50 | 25.00 |
Steve Smith as a Captain in ODI Format
Steve Smith brought runs on the table in the ODI World Cup 2015, having topped the charts among all Australian batters. It is undeniable to say that he was a frontrunner, leading the Australian Men’s team to lift the World Cup. Smith has been a skipper in 64 ODI matches and won on 32 occasions. He has an impressive winning percentage (50).
| Matches | Won | Lost | W/L | W% | L% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 64 | 32 | 28 | 1.14 | 50.00 | 43.75 |
Steve Smith as a Captain in T20I Format
Steve Smith collected his efforts as a captain in the T20I format as well. He led the team in 8 matches and scripted triumph in half of them. With 50% winning for his side, mixed performance has been linked with Smith in the T20I format. Further, Smith stepped down as captain prior to the T20I World Cup 2024.
| Matches | Won | Lost | W/L | W% | L% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8 | 4 | 4 | 1.00 | 50.00 | 50.00 |
Steve Smith as a Captain in IPL Format
Steve Smith was the highest run scorer for the team Rising Pune Supergiant in the IPL 2017 edition with 472 runs, averaging the score with 39.33. His side faced defeat against the Mumbai Indians by just one run and ended up as a runner-up. Former Indian skipper MS Dhoni also played under Smith’s leadership. As a captain of the Rajasthan Royals, Smith was featured in 27 matches and won 15. Steve Smith has been a captain in 42 IPL matches for multiple franchises. His side won on 25 occasions.
| Matches | Won | Lost | W/L | W% | L% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 42 | 25 | 16 | 1.56 | 59.52 | 38.09 |
Steve Smith has 17 centuries to his name playing as a skipper. As a versatile player, he has been active in various roles from batting to captaincy, rising from his initial role as a leg spinner and lower-order batsman. In modern-day cricket, Steve Smith is continuing as a skipper to lead Australia in the ODI format.
