Australia Star Steve Smith Breaks Silence On Decision To Bat At No. 4 Again, Says "I Didn't..."

Australia batter Steve Smith said that Usman Khawaja and Marnus Labuschagne "hated" him at the top order and wanted him to return back to his original batting position - No. 4 - but he is happy to bat wherever the team wants him to. Australia head coach Andrew McDonald confirmed last week that he and captain Pat Cummins have decided to shift Smith back to No. 4 batting spot in Test cricket following a brief stint at the opening role.

Smith stated that he was asked by McDonald to tell his preferred batting position to which he replied 'four' but he never requested the management to put him back in the middle order.

"I got asked where I'd prefer to bat, and I said four. I didn't ask (to move) though. I also said I'm happy batting wherever. I'm not really too fussed. I got asked where my preference would be, and I said four. I saw a few things last week saying that I've requested to bat at four. That wasn't the case. I said I'm happy to bat wherever you'd like me to bat but, yeah, four would be my ideal position," ESPNcricinfo quoted Smith as saying.

He added that his teammates Labuschagne and Khawaja in particular were not happy to see him bat in the top order and with all-rounder Cameron Green being ruled out of the India Test series, it became evident to shift him back to No. 4.

"Obviously there's a spot there now with Greeny (Cameron Green) out. And I think just conversations we had after New Zealand with particularly Marnus and Uzi, they hated me up top, to be honest. They wanted me behind them. They just like the...they call it security behind them, in a way. They were pretty strong on me not batting there. So that was a big part of it. And then obviously, I've got a decent record at four," he added.

On his brief