Steve Smith suffered a concussion during Australia’s second T20 International against Sri Lanka on Sunday. The Australian star will be subjected to low-level protocols for the next few days, is expected to be fully recovered in 6-7 days and will likely miss the rest of the series.
The incident happened in the third-last ball of the match as Maheesh Theekshana smashed Marcus Stoinis, as the ball went high up in the sky. Even as the ball seemed to be sailing over the ropes for a maximum, Steve Smith did not throw in the towel but dived full stretch to save some valuable runs.
He, however, was unsuccessful as the replay showed his foot was touching the rope before he caught the ball and sent it back to the field. Adding salt to Australia’s injury, Smith nastily crash-landed outside the ropes and hit his head badly while falling. He subsequently suffered a concussion and was taken off the field. It was later learnt that Smith has been ruled out of the series.
To make issues worse, Smith additionally suffered a concussion himself with the trouble as he landed on his head. He has been dominated out of the remainder of the five-match T20I sequence because of this.
His concussion diagnosis was confirmed late on Sunday and cricket Australia (CA) said the 32-year-old will be subject to “low level protocols” over the coming days before an anticipated recovery within the week. “(Smith) will be subject to low level protocols for the next few days and full recovery in 6-7 days,” the CA said in a statement.
Meanwhile, Smith, on Monday, also took to social media and thanked his fans and well-wishers for the greetings. “Thanks everyone for reaching out. My head has felt better but I will be ok,” he posted on Twitter. Meanwhile, Australia now lead the five-match series 2-0 and the win in the next game would seal the deal for them.
Notably, Australia defeated Sri Lanka in the super over to win the second T20I of the five-match series at the Sydney Cricket Ground on Sunday. With this win, Australia have gained a 2-0 lead in the five-match series and the third T20I will now be played on Tuesday.