49 jersey number in cricket

The numbers on cricketers’ shirts help identify a player to the officials, commentators, or even the spectators. The numbers on the front of a player’s shirt indicate the chronological position of their appearance for a particular country. Whereas, numbers on the back are typically self-chosen. However, these numbers are not always just useful for commentators or spectators alone. Sometimes, the jersey numbers of cricketers have much larger personal significance.

Steve Smith

Steven Peter Devereux Smith is an Australian international cricketer and former captain of the Australian national team. Smith has drawn comparisons to Donald Bradman, widely acknowledged as the greatest batsman of all time, due to his distinctively high Test batting average.

Although he was initially selected for Australia as a right-arm leg spinner, Smith later played primarily as a batsman. After playing five matches from 2010 to 2011, he was recalled to the Australian team in 2013, and took over the captaincy from Michael Clarke in late 2015, after which he predominantly batted at number 3 or 4.

Awards he has won include the Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy (ICC Cricketer of the Year) in 2015, ICC Test Player of the Year in 2015 and 2017, ICC Men’s Test Player of the Decade for 2011–2020, the Allan Border Medal for the best player in Australian Cricket in 2015, 2018 and 2021, Australian Test Player of the Year in 2015 and 2018, and Australian One Day International Player of the Year in 2015 and 2021. He was named by Wisden as one of their Cricketers of the Year in the 2016 Wisden Almanack.

In 2014, New Zealand batsman Martin Crowe described Smith as one of the young Fab Four of Test cricket along with Joe Root, Kane Williamson and Virat Kohli. On 30 December 2017, he reached a Test batting rating of 947, one of the highest of all time.

In March 2018, Smith was widely criticized for overseeing ball tampering in the third Test against South Africa, during which he stood down from the team captaincy and was replaced by Tim Paine. Following an investigation by Cricket Australia, Smith was banned from all international and domestic cricket in Australia for one year starting from 29 March 2018, and from consideration for any leadership role for an additional year.

Smith is a right-handed batsman with a technique that has attracted attention for its unorthodoxy. He moves around frequently in the crease, especially during bowlers’ run-up, and ends up with the toes of his feet outside off stump against right-handers, controls the bat with his bottom hand (that is, the hand closest to the blade of the bat), and is capable of playing unconventional cricket shots like the reverse sweep. Playing in a club match in January 2010, right-handed Smith took guard left-handed and hit a six. Due to his unorthodox style, Smith was initially labeled as a limited-overs batsman who might struggle in the longer form of the game, especially early in his career when he was vulnerable outside off stump.

However, Smith compensates for his unique technique with outstanding hand-eye co-ordination, focus, and his footwork, especially to spin bowlers, is exemplary. Smith spontaneously experimented with his technique during the Perth Test match in the 2013–14 Ashes, during which he decided to take a “prelim movement back and across” to counter short-pitched bowling. This change took his batting average from 33 in 2013 to 64.95 in 2019. At the time of delivery, Smith’s stumps are fully covered, making bowled dismissals unlikely. This position also allows him to play to either the on or offside with ease.

Much of the credit for Smith’s success can also be attributed to batting coach Trent Woodhill, who coached Smith as a junior and noted his abundant talent. He has also defended Smith’s unique batting style, and has long argued that in Australia, many naturally talented cricketers who may not necessarily have an orthodox technique are let down by over-coaching; in the years between leaving school and his elevation into international cricket, Smith had his technique picked apart by a number of well-intentioned coaches. Since re-establishing his working relationship with Woodhill, Smith appears to have regained calm and confidence in his cricket, which has since produced results over the last few seasons. Smith is also known for his concentration, being able to bat for long periods of time, even through a whole day’s play.

As a bowler, however, after his quick rise up the batting order (until he became captain, and settled in at 4), the comparisons to Shane Warne never gathered momentum. He was an able option as a leg spinner early in his career, but was under-used because he was described as a very defensive bowler.

When he was captain for Australia, he had been initially tagged as the second “Captain Grumpy” since Allan Border early in his captaincy reign, having to warn Mitchell Starc for unsportsmanlike behaviour, and being highly critical of the team’s bowling and fielding despite beating New Zealand by over 200 runs in 2015. Later, in 2017–2018, he publicly criticized Glenn Maxwell’s training regimen when Maxwell was dropped from the Australian ODI squad. He was also criticized for having too much influence over team selections.

Smith is known as one of the top-ranked Test batsmen in the world, according to the ICC Player Rankings.

Wanindu Hasaranga

Pinnaduwage Wanindu Hasaranga de Silva, better known as Wanindu Hasaranga, is a professional Sri Lankan cricketer known for playing with the national team in all three formats of the game. He made his international debut for Sri Lanka in July 2017. His elder brother, Chaturanga de Silva, has also represented the national team.

Tadiwanashe Marumani

Tadiwanashe Marumani is a Zimbabwean cricketer. He made his international debut for the Zimbabwe cricket team in April 2021.