'No matter where his feet are' - Sanjay Manjrekar sheds light on Steve Smith's 'unique strength' that makes him great

Former Australia skipper and modern-day batting great, Steve Smith looked in a brilliant batting touch on the second day of the ongoing fifth Ashes 2023 Test. In the first innings, he played a crucial role for Australia by scoring 71 runs, which helped them gain a lead of 12 runs.

Meanwhile, Sanjay Manjrekar, the former Indian batter turned commentator, praised Smith and echoed the notion of calling him ‘modern-day great’. Apart from this, Manjrekar also revealed the ‘unique strength’ in the Aussie star’s batting which makes him different from the other batters of the current era.

"Realised again, watching him bat yesterday. Steve Smith has just one overwhelming & unique strength that makes him a modern great. Sensational ‘ball sense’. The bat finds its way down at the right time & place to make a glorious connection no matter where his feet are. #Ashes", read the tweet posted by Sanjay Manjrekar on Sunday.

Here's a look at Sanjay Manjrekar's tweet for Steve Smith

Realised again, watching him bat yesterday. Steve Smith has just one overwhelming & unique strength that makes him a modern great.

Sensational ‘ball sense’.

The bat finds its way down at the right time & place to make a glorious connection no matter where his feet are.#Ashes

— Sanjay Manjrekar (@sanjaymanjrekar) July 29, 2023

Day two of The Oval Test also drew the headlines for a controversial run-out decision by TV umpire Nitin Menon, involving Steve Smith as the prime face of this controversy.

England's second-inning onslaught keeps the match in the balance

Speaking of the current action of the match at The Oval in London, England are currently batting on the third day. They have 151 runs for the loss of 2 wickets in 29.4 overs with a very good run rate of 5.08. Skipper Ben Stokes and former skipper Joe Root were there in the middle on the individual scores of 27 and 4 runs, respectively.

The veteran pacer Mitchell Starc and skipper Pat Cummins have scalped one wicket each for Australia in the second innings so far. Earlier, in Australia’s first innings, most of the Aussie batters struggled against the bowling attack of England; eventually, the visitors got bundled up on the score of 295 runs with a minor lead of 12 runs.

During the match, Chris Woakes took three wickets for England, while Stuart Broad, Mark Wood, and former captain Joe Root each claimed two wickets. Apart from these, the veteran pacer James Anderson also picked one wicket.