Moving Steve Smith to the opener is a test to see whether Australia will win at home against India and then retain the Ashes. The upcoming two-match series against West Indies and New Zealand are to review the Smith experiment. If it fails, players like Cameron Bancroft, Will Pucovski, and others will have a chance to prove themselves and possibly take the opener position. Meanwhile, Smith is ageing and has been showing wear and tear in his playing. However, Smith will have the opportunity to prove himself as an opener at the batting-friendly Adelaide Oval next week, even though it is not his usual position in the field. It will be interesting to see if Smith’s dominance will continue given that it has decreased over the past few years. Only time will tell whether moving Smith to the opener will be beneficial for Australia when facing India and England.
