Steve Smith turns 32: Journey from 'next Shane Warne' to 'Don Bradman's heir apparent'

Back in 2013, as Australia locked horns with England in an Ashes series, Michael Clarke included young leg-spinner Steve Smith in the squad. The youngster had been in good form with the bat for New South Wales, but he was in the Australian team as a bowler who could offer something with the bat.

Steve Smith's Test career had been a stop-start affair till then. The top order was packed, and he could not get a long rope to prove his credentials. However, he did feature in the line-up primarily as a spinner, with Australia in the hunt to find their next Shane Warne.

There seemed to be a lot of flaws with Steve Smith's batting technique - experts pointed out that he shuffled a lot in the crease, the bat came from gully, and this created a gap between bat and pads. He also had the tendency to fish outside the off-stump.

To make things worse, the right-handed batter's numbers too were rather mediocre. However, the Australian selectors and the management did not give up on him, and when Smith was included in the team against England at the WACA in the 2013-14 Ashes series, his life was about to change.

He rescued Australia from dire straits, struck a century and showed great improvement in his technique. He took a leg-stump guard, walked across to the off-stump and kept flicking the balls away.

Despite all his awkwardness, Steve Smith showed great patience as well, leaving the ball outside the off stump and notching up a century. This process gave him a fresh lease of life and bowlers have been trying to decode the technique ever since.

With the ball, Smith continued to remain handy. While his leg-spinners do turn, his skills with the cherry have since been put on the back-burner as the right-hander has scored runs for fun over the past six years. He averages in excess of 60 in Test matches and continues to befuddle bowlers and opposition captains with his quirks and rather unconventional technique.

The innings that made Steve Smith believe

Steve Smith's next big challenge was the tour of South Africa and he showed that his innings in Perth was not a fluke. Australia were struggling at 98 for four in Centurion when Smith put together a massive partnership with Shaun Marsh, and departed after scoring a 100 against a superb South African bowling line-up.

He then went on to score 80 runs in the series decider as Australia bagged the series. Smith starred with 269 runs at an average of about 67. Steve Smith the batsman had made his presence felt, and no one wanted to talk about his bowling anymore.

Speaking about the series upon his appointment as skipper, he said:

"(That) was a big eye opener for me. They were the best attack in the world, in their conditions. To be able to score a hundred there under a little bit of pressure in the circumstances we were in, that was pretty special. Ever since that moment it's seemed to go up hill from there and hopefully it continues to go that way."

He is an excellent player of spin too, as was evident in the way he dominated the Pakistan attack in the UAE. Steve Smiht also scored a magnificent hundred against India on a raging turner in Pune.

It might not be an exaggeration to state that Steve Smith is perhaps the best Australian batsman since Don Bradman and one of the best in the current era. This journey has been nothing short of marvellous and we can safely say we are all thankful that Australia never got their next Shane Warne.