Before Steve Smith goes about tackling the high-rated Indian bowling attack in another riveting battle for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, former Australia skipper Steve Waugh raved over the man's class, saying he has "never seen anything like" him. 

The premier Aussie batsman has been absolutely outstanding with the bat in the toughest form of the game, averaging a jaw-dropping 62.84 after 73 Tests with 7,227 runs, including 26 hundreds. 

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Smith will be extremely crucial for the hosts as they strive to avenge their previous series loss to the arch-rivals this summer. 

"He's amazing, isn't he?" Waugh told 'The Cricket Show'. "I've had the privilege of watching him up close and I've never seen anything like it."

"The way he prepares, he just thinks about cricket 24/7, he's in his room shadow batting until 12 or one o'clock in the morning, he doesn't really sleep. During that first Test at Edgbaston where he got those amazing 140s in each innings, he didn't sleep a wink that whole Test match so five days without sleep."

"I asked him what he does and he said that he closes his eyes but he can't actually get to sleep so, during that eight or nine hours, he went through every England bowler and every possible scenario."

"He's like a human computer, all this information goes in and then he spits out the answers," he added. 

Waugh has noticed, Smith's odd quirks and unusual technique also help him a lot as he makes bowlers bowl to his perceived weaknesses and eventually catches them on the trap. 

"He's like the David Copperfield of batting because there are all these illusions going on but when he actually hits the ball, his head is still and he hits it underneath his eyes," he said. 

"So there are all these little things going on, which confuses bowlers; he almost draws them in like a matador in the bullring then he throws up the cape and it goes through to the keeper, then all of a sudden the bowler comes to him where he wants it and he'll put it through the gap."

"He's the best placer of a ball I've ever seen, he never hits the fieldsmen so every time he plays a shot, it goes for runs. He something different, he's something quite amazing."

Waugh was there in the Australian dressing room when Smith was hurt badly around the neck area via a bouncer from England's Jofra Archer at Lord's during the 2019 Ashes. The batsman immediately fell down to the ground and though he returned to bat shortly, he was clearly uncomfortable. Smith missed the following Test at Headingley due to concussion scare. 

That incident and the number of concussion instances seen since have given birth to a debate around the use of the bouncer and whether it is fair? For Waugh, however, there is little doubt, it is an integral part of the contest between the batters and the bowlers. 

"It's a part of the game and as a top-order batsman, you want to test yourself against the best bowlers in the toughest situations; they're often against a quick bowler who is at his peak and bowling short balls at your body and you've got to just work out a way to survive," he said. 

"It does take courage, a really good game plan and it takes skill. I think you want to be tested at that top level and if you took the bouncer out of the game, it would take away that element that I think the crowd loves seeing, a bowler steaming in and bowling short balls."

"At Lord's, there was a hush around the ground, it was excitement, it was what Test match cricket is all about. If you take that away, it takes the skill level out of the game and it takes that courage element which is required from a top-order batsman."

"I'm definitely against the bouncer being outlawed, it's part of the game and it is something that you've got to learn to play better. Some of the younger players are perhaps relying on their protective equipment to get them out of a dangerous situation," Waugh added.

"Obviously, after that players have become comfortable wearing helmets and have perhaps lost the skill of playing the short ball as well as in the past."

(Inputs from Sky Sports)