Steve Smith and Virat Kohli
Australia coach Justin Langer was all praise for Steve Smith, who's twin-centuries played a pivotal role in Australia's win over England in the first Test of the Ashes series in Birmingham. Langer called Smith the best batsman in the world along with Team India skipper Virat Kohli.
The Australia coach's remarks came after his match-winning centuries helped the visitors create history by winning a Test match in Edgbaston after 21 years, breaking the streak. Smith scored figures of 144 and 142 in the two innings he played, becoming only the fifth Australia to register centuries in both of his innings in an Ashes match.
Smith had also surpassed Kohli to become the second-fastest to 25 Test centuries, with Sir Don Bradman leading the charts.
Langer stated that after watching Kohli make merry during India's tour of Australia, the Aussie coach was all praise for the Indian captain but at the current moment is in awe of Smith's knocks.
"I said during the summer that Virat Kohli is the best player I have ever seen but that [Smith's knocks] is just another level," Langer said. "You go through the periods, I remember being a young player on the fringe for a long time watching Steve Waugh on all the tours and he was a run machine, I wanted to be like Steve Waugh. Then I played with Punter and I wanted to be Ricky Ponting because he's a run machine," Langer told ESPNcricinfo.
After opting to bat, Australia were off to a horrid start and were reeling at 122/8 in the first innings of the opening Test in Birmingham, but Smith's knock enabled the visitors to post 284 on the board.
The hosts only managed to post a 90-run lead as they scored 374 runs, courtesy of Rory Burn's century. However, the Australians did not let the opportunity slide by this time as along with Smith knock, Matthew Wade also hammered a brilliant ton as Australia posted 487/7 after declaring. The visitors got plenty of help from the wicket on the last day with Nathan Lyon and Pat Cummings cleaning house and leading Australia to a 251-run win, taking a 1-0 lead in the five-match series.
Langer remembered when he first came across Smith back in 2009 when he was called in as a leg-spinner and a lower-order batsman. But Smith had other ideas in mind and the coach now recalls the time when the former captain took a stand on his position in the team.
"Let's face it; when he first came in, legspinner, unorthodox... [everyone thought] 'I'm not sure this kid's going to make it'. Then he goes away [and decides] 'I don't want to be a legspinner; I want to be the best batsman in the world'. Then he transforms himself and he is the best batsman in the world with Virat. It's a great credit to him," said the Australian coach.
