Rafael Nadal and Steve Smith: Inexplicable mavericks of sport born one day apart

Sport has always been fortunate to have players who respect either tradition or innovation. Many greats have transcended their sport by balancing both yet making a mark for themselves by consistently bringing something different and memorable to the table. In British-invented sports like cricket and tennis, although tradition was harped on tremendously, it took a Sir Don Bradman and a Rod Laver for instance, to elevate their sport and make it attractive for generations to come.

Steve Smith revives Sir Don Bradman’s style in cricket

It is believed that the great Sir Don once told Sachin Tendulkar that like him, he did not follow the coaching manual blindly. As a result, in an era when batsmen feared getting hit or losing their wicket, Bradman could play some unorthodox and exquisite strokes with a stance not approved by ‘purists’ of the game. They were unmatched and delighted crowds to no avail. And most of his runs came against Ashes rivals England.

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Out 1948, In 2020. If a game was played with cricket admirers of today when it comes to the first cricketer that comes to mind when the words above are read, it is none other than Steve Smith. For all his critics who talk about his white-ball records, the primary hallmark of a batsman is to succeed in Test cricket. Despite many considering hand-eye co-ordination to be a fickle strength, Smith uses it to dictate terms to bowlers with his trademark shuffling of the stumps, making him unpredictable and as a result, hard to dismiss.

Never has Smith changed his stance or mindset much when it comes to playing in Australia or outside of it. Even in ODI and T20I cricket too, he began to find his feet as seen in the last few editions of the IPL and 50-over World Cups that took place 5 years after his debut.

Rafael Nadal birthday special: When a Spanish star goes beyond being moulded by clay

Much before Smith could make an impact in cricket, miles away from Australia in another sport, Rafael Nadal had begun taking the tennis world by storm at a tender age of 16. Being from Spain meant that a player could only win on the rough and tough clay courts of the world. Nadal has lived up to that reputation till date, with his running around the court, incredulous passing shots, the ability to produce long rallies and grinding down the opponent, all being laudable. However, it took ‘Rafa’ 6 years before he could go beyond the clay mould to be truly considered amongst the all-time greats of tennis.

Critics argued that Nadal’s style of playing it slow, hitting forehands with unfathomable topspin that requires twisting and turning of the elbow and using a lot of power in his shots even when he does not hit winners, for instance, posed a major danger to his knees and forearms, which make him vulnerable to injuries and reduce his chances of success on non-clay surfaces.

Yet, if one revisits Nadal’s win over arch-rival Roger Federer at the Wimbledon 2008 and Novak Djokovic in the US Open 2010 finals, the Spaniard’s game remained the same as power worked in his favour, with his opponents having lesser endurance left to still find him out.

Rafael Nadal and Steve Smith: Coaches and fanbases

Australia’s cricket and Spain’s tennis ecosystems incidentally have the same problem. Both revere those players who have a classical technique and game and often demean those who work their game out themselves. Yet, it could be fair to compare Toni Nadal to the much lesser known Trent Woodhill, both who belong to the rare breed of coaches that gave Rafa and Smith respectively, the freedom to excel using their own thinking capacity and uniqueness without worrying about selection, runs, injuries, results etc.

Nadal and Smith’s fanbase today is primarily due to the duo producing some fine moments on the court or field with their shots, which only they and not pundits can explain how they pull it off. If one hears their interviews often or their counterparts talking about them, their painstaking work ethic is spoken about often. It is believed that both of them don’t leave practice sessions easily as they are always looking for smaller details to change within their game and trying out new shots, playing as if they are during a match.

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While Nadal is a known gym fanatic in the locker room after his match, Smith is often renowned for ‘shadow batting’ even in the hotel room, with both seemingly not giving themselves any free moments except before they are in action.

Both of them seem to know that they are not natural talents, which is why they may not look effortless or elegant, but produce results when it matters the most more often than not. Interestingly, in a recent interview with Zimbabwe’s Pommie Mbangwa, former South African cricket captain AB de Villiers compared Steve Smith to Rafael Nadal himself, saying that the Australian is mentally strong like him with some incredible shot selection, who has the ability to rewrite records without looking pleasing to the eye.

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Rafael Nadal vs Roger Federer = Steve Smith vs Virat Kohli?

However, the duo isn’t adored universally. The reasons could vary from their inexplicable ‘routines’ while in action to being compared with their illustrious and more ‘likeable’ competitors.

While Rafael Nadal has had the reputation of irking opponents and tennis fans alike over the years with his twitching of some body parts and bouncing the ball for an eternity before serving, Steve Smith has a remarkably similar twitch routine before taking strike often which involves moving his body. Nadal is often criticised for his grunting while Smith’s exaggerated leaves or movements while batting tend to draw laughter or mockery alike, especially when they both don’t succeed.

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When it comes to their rivals, Steve Smith is often compared to India’s Virat Kohli, who is considered widely as the ‘best batsman in the world’ for his performances across formats and in tournaments such as the IPL. If the Kohli-Federer comparison is taken, the Indian captain is ahead of Smith surely as Federer is in terms of Nadal. Yet in terms of head-to-head, Nadal has been more dominant against the Swiss legend while Smith is often seen outperforming Kohli when Australia plays India, especially in Test cricket.

In a way, it is ironic that Smith considers Federer as his favourite tennis player because if he resembles anyone the closest from another sport, it has arguably got to be Rafael Nadal. Both have tremendous aggression, make the most of comebacks, value patience, don’t have the biggest fan base and yet increase the level of competition and excitement in their respective sports. With Steve Smith’s birthday (June 2) being just one day before Rafael Nadal’s (June 3), it would be fair to say that June has given sport more than many of us think it has.

(IMAGE CREDITS: Roland Garros on Twitter and cricket.com.au)

(VIDEO CREDITS: TennisTV and cricket.com.au)