LAHORE: Australia captain Steve Smith remained unfazed despite the absence of several key players for the ICC Men’s Champions Trophy 2025.
Smith, while addressing the pre-match press conference here ahead of their campaign opener against England, was probed about the challenge of leading an inexperienced side in the tournament.
The 35-year-old, in response, claimed that the former champions are ‘not worried’ about missing their key pacers – Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood – and instead are focused on the opportunity of playing against strong oppositions in a major tournament.
“I am pretty relaxed. There is always a pressure when you are playing an international event and big tournaments,” said Smith.
“It is clear that we are missing a few of our gun fast bowlers but we are not worried about that. We are thinking about what we’ve got here and the opportunity that those guys have.
“There are some quality players in that [dressing] room, who are playing in their first big event, which they are looking forward to and I am looking forward to it as well.
“It would be great to see them placed under pressure against quality oppositions so, it is going to be an exciting time for us.”
Smith also addressed Australia’s dismal form heading into the tournament, which saw them losing 2-0 away against Sri Lanka, stating that it ‘does not mean a great deal’ and instead emphasised making a fresh start.
“I think, yeah, we both did not play as we would have liked over the last couple of weeks but that does not mean a great deal coming into tomorrow,” said Smith.
“I think it is a fresh start, a new tournament, two good teams going at it, So, I am looking forward to it, should be a good game.”
Steve Smith (c), Sean Abbott, Alex Carey, Ben Dwarshuis, Nathan Ellis, Jake Fraser-McGurk, Aaron Hardie, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Spencer Johnson, Marnus Labuschagne, Glenn Maxwell, Tanveer Sangha, Matthew Short, Adam Zampa