Melbourne

Days after Smith redefined the art of run-scoring in an Ashes series that belonged to him, Woodhill said uniqueness and unorthodox styles should be celebrated.

“If Steven was Indian, his technique and mechanics and the strategy around his batting would just be accepted,” Woodhill was quoted as saying in ESPNcricinfo.

“We see Kohli, Gavaskar, (Rohit) Sharma, Ganguly, Sehwag - all these players have unique techniques. The Indian system is all about output, about scoring runs, ‘We don’t care how you do it as long as you do it’, whereas in Australia we wanted you to score well and we wanted you to look good.”

Smith dominated the series by accumulating 774 runs at an average of more than 110 that included three centuries and as many fifties.

However, his unique approach to batting, especially while leaving deliveries, was discussed by those who view his technique through the classical lens.

He called Smith the best since the greatDonald Bradman.

“The old guard, the older Test greats, still can’t understand how it works. So they still think, especially bowlers, ‘Well, if I was bowling, I’d sort this guy out’,” said Woodhill.

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