Steve Smith gives bowler thumbs up then gets bowled out, a breakdown
What Happened
In a tense Test match between Australia and India, Australian batsman Steve Smith steps up to the crease in the 40th over. Australia has already lost two early wickets, putting pressure on Smith to steady the innings. Smith immediately gets comfortable, smashing the first three deliveries he faces for boundaries to the fence. He appears to be in total control, shaking his head and exuding confidence after each powerful shot. However, the introduction of Indian spinner Ravindra Jadeja shifts the momentum. As Jadeja runs in to bowl, Smith sizes him up and, to the surprise of the crowd, gives the bowler a friendly thumbs up. "I can't hit that ball," Smith can be heard saying, acknowledging the difficulty of Jadeja's spinning delivery. True to his word, Smith is unable to middle the next ball, which dips and turns sharply, leaving him completely bamboozled. The crowd erupts as Jadeja's delivery castles Smith's stumps, sending the Australian superstar trudging back to the pavilion. Replays show the ball kicking up dust as it hits the pitch, changing direction dramatically and beating Smith's defensive prod. "The way the ball hits the pitch and kicks up the dirt, that's what creates the variation," the commentator explains, highlighting the nuances of spin bowling on the subcontinent. Despite Smith's earlier confidence, the wily Jadeja has outsmarted him, reading the conditions perfectly and exploiting the rough patches on the surface. The dismissal is a huge blow for Australia, who were relying on Smith to anchor the innings. India's players celebrate jubilantly, knowing they have removed a key opposition batsman. As Smith walks off, he appears perplexed, looking down at the pitch and trying to comprehend how the delivery that defeated him was the same one he had acknowledged he couldn't handle. The contrast between his initial swagger and eventual demise underscores the unpredictable nature of cricket on these turning tracks, where the slightest variations in bounce and spin can undo even the most accomplished batsmen.
Full Transcript
Click timestamps to jump to that momentAustralia is in India playing a test
match against India and I what I've
learned in my recent qriket fandom is
that on the subcontinent spin bowling
reign supreme and it's a tough place to
go play if you're not familiar with the
pitches and the style and all that and I
was watching this game this match and
this interested me so I figured I'd
share it to see if any of you guys might
get interested in it but it also
might just get deleted because they
don't allow stuff like this so I'm going
to try a new little video format where
my face is in here sorry if you hate
looking at my face anyway Australia
tough tough start they're opening to
batsman go down so they got two gone
before putting up I don't know I think
it was four runs and they got two out so
Steve Smith comes in as a third hitter
in the lineup and in this version of
cricket
you play until the entire lineup gets
out and a batter hits until he's out and
puts up as many runs as he can until
he's out you have to get the entire
lineup out and then the inning end so it
can last forever and sometimes that's
the goal is just block it just protect
your Wicket don't get out just what we
would say fall it all fouled off until
you find the ones you can hit while on
the 40th over Steve Smith starts to get
a little bit comfortable in the Box the
first ball he sees is outside so they
was they say off leg and he smokes it
for four the next one kind of the same
thing smokes it again past the diving
player hits the boundary that's another
four runs there's actually uh nothing in
between he's shaking his head he's
feeling good and then two balls later to
end that over hits another four so we
got 16 runs in that over which is six
balls so he's feeling good but the next
time he comes to the plate the spin
bowler jadijah comes up and Steve Smith
looks at him and he looks back and flows
and an instant thumbs up from Steve
Smith after that one he's gonna just see
what it's all about first time facing
him thumbs up and then the bowler kind
of he's trying to be cool and he laughs
and Steve Smith's like well I don't know
good good ball man what am I gonna do
I'm gonna be honest if you're at Cole
he's laughing his ass off clapping and
look at the replay it just moves so much
it turns and he's just like
great ball mate you can actually hear it
in the background you can hear Steve
Smith say to him I can't hit that ball
I can't hit that boss so anyway Steve
Smith kind of tipped his hand he's like
hey if you throw that one I can't really
hit it because it's I gotta protect but
it's turning more than I can swing at
so what's he do he doesn't throw it
again he kind of goes on his leg side
Smith hits it that way and then he's
back to it now Smith is just he's just
protecting it he's just trying to block
it that one gets past slip and he's like
nope don't run I'm up I'm up
and that one gets him
Team India is celebrating it's a huge
Wicket to get him out the fans are going
crazy Steve Smith he doesn't really
understand what happened he's like
looking up looking down wait what
looking at the Wicket looking at the
pitch looking like what
how did that possibly happen
because that ball was the same exact
spin so look it's spinning it's spinning
it's supposed to hit the ground and turn
to exactly where his Bat was he was just
trying to protect it and this is two
side by side
same grip by the bowler
same release by the bowler same spin on
the ball a nice tight spin now the one
on the left is gonna hit the dirt
turn and go way to the left
and you protect it the other one doesn't
turn at all the one on the right
just stays straight
it's only 50 miles per hour
is not a fast pitch at all we play
faster than that in the warehouse but in
qriket you have so many elements you
have
where is it going to bounce is it going
to be long is it going to be short and
then when the ball hits the ground what
part of it hits the ground the seam flat
does it get it with spin so you can see
the ball on the left
when it hits it see the bottom left
starts wobbling a little more and when
it hits you can see it the ball on the
left kicks up dirt it like digs in a
little more gets some grip and really
kicks to the left turns they say the
ball on the right doesn't do that just
kind of flat so the way the announcers
talk about it is like sometimes as a
bowler you just find the spot on the
pitch that's going to give you multiple
variations of a bounce and then you just
toss it into that spot and let the
ground do the work for you
oh it's pretty fast I fascinated by the
strategies and that stuff and Cricket
since I didn't grow up watching it I'm
not too familiar and I thought maybe you
guys would be interested too
and you know telling a guy I can't hit
that one and then a couple balls later
getting out on it
at least Steve Smith isn't a liar if you
are just getting into cricket and you
want an easier path in I created we
created a different version It's like a
half baseball half crooked Sports called
the ball and play league we played it on
the warehouse games Channel we're
playing it again and we're getting a
bunch of professional cricket players to
come to the warehouse and play with us
and qriket creators so there'd be half
crooked brain half baseball brain
playing this made up sport it's actually
a lot of fun so if you want to go check
out
first season you can next season will be
coming out in
June