Marathon man Steve Smith has set a legacy of his own

New Delhi: Australia skipper Steve Smith has had a fairytale season so far this year as his stature as a player has grown considerably.

Smith is amongst the top batsmen in modern day Test cricket besides Kane Williamson, Virat Kohli and Joe Root. Smith's confidence in carrying forward the Aussie legacy continues to impress, as the right-hander has dominated world cricket consistently.

Steve Smith won big at the ICC cricket awards 2015 after having tremendous success with the bat.

Steve Smith won the Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy for ICC Cricketer of the Year 2015. He also bagged the ICC Test Cricketer of the Year award.

Smith's success has continued from where he left in 2014. Since the beginning of last year, Smith has went on to register nine centuries in Test cricket. Smith has been a revelation for Australia and in him, they have found a perfect leader to handle the mantle in all three formats of the game.

The ICC cricket awards had a voting period that ran from 18 September 2014 to 13 September 2015 as Smith went on to get big scores one after the other. His best form during this phase was against India at end of 2014 and January 2015 where he registered four consecutive Test centuries at home.

Since then, his excellence continued against the West Indies and England in the Ashes.

Smith has been a match-winner and has held the Australian middle order together for quite some time now. The 26-year-old played a key role in helping his side reach the ICC 2015 World Cup final after a superb 105 against India in the semis.

Under Smith's captaincy, Australia won the ODI series against England after the Ashes. With India visiting Australia in January 2016 for an ODI and T20 series, Smith will be the opponent's biggest hurdle given his excellent run against them.

Smith has rightly been adjudged the ICC Cricketer of the Year and he will hope to continue in the same fashion from here on.