Australia opener David Warner is going to bid farewell to Test cricket with the ongoing Sydney Test. Ever since he announced his retirement, discussions have started about the future of Australia's opener. Who will play in the absence of Warner in the opening? This is the most talked about question in the Australiacricket arena.

Several names have come in response to this question. In domestic cricket, Cameron Bancroft, Marcus Harris, and Matt Renshaw were considered to have done well in opening. There has also been talk of moving Cameron Green up from the middle order. This time the name of Steven Smith has come to that discussion.

Smith himself expressed interest in opening the third day of the ongoing Sydney Test against Pakistan. "I'm actually happy to go up the top. I'm pretty keen if that's what they want to do. I'm sure the selectors and Ron [Andrew McDonald] and Patty [Cummins] will have a chat after this game but yeah, I'm certainly interested for sure,” speaking to ABC Grandstand, Smith said.

Earlier, in addition to Green, Marnus Labuschagne, who batted at number three, also raised the idea of ​​playing in the opening after Warner's retirement.

Smith currently bats regularly at number four in Tests. His batting average in this position is 61.46 with 19 centuries. However, his average at number three is slightly higher, 67.07. There are 8 centuries. But after touring Bangladesh and India in 2017, Smith did not get a chance to bat at number three. Smith scored three centuries in nine innings in Sebar's spinning conditions. A few days later, Usman Khawaja and Marnus Labuschagne have been batting at three since the 2019 Ashes.

At this stage of his career, Smith expressed his interest in playing as the opener with a new challenge. However, the year 2023 was not very good for him. Smith scored close to 1000 runs with 3 centuries, averaging 42.22. While that's a great statistic for any other batter, it's a different story for Smith. This is his lowest batting average in a year since 2014 excluding 2018 and 2020. Smith played very few Test matches in 2018 and 2020 due to the Covid and sandpaper incidents.

It is believed that the opening will be opened after the ongoing Sydney Test. The first match of Australia’s two-match Test series against the West Indies will begin in Adelaide on January 17. Australia is currently playing the third match of the three-match Test series against Pakistan. Australia has secured the series victory by winning the first two matches and leading by 2-0 in the series.