England all-rounder Ben Stokes on Tuesday (April 28) described Australia’s Steve Smith as a 'genius' while admitting that he can never match the obsession for the game of his IPL team-mate.

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Stokes witnessed some of Smith’s finest batting performances from close quarters during the last year’s Ashes, where the latter amassed 774 runs at an astonishing average of 110.57 with three fabulous centuries to help Australia retain the urn on English soil for the first time since 2001.

Stokes was due to be playing with Smith this month for the Rajasthan Royals but the COVID-19 pandemic forced the BCCI to postpone the IPL 2020 indefinitely.

"He's still strange to play against and he's still strange to play with. But I feel to be a genius you have to be a bit strange and he's certainly both. Even though he plays for Australia, biggest rivals England and Australia you’ve just got to hold your hands up sometimes to players like that and go yeah you’re on a different level when it comes to batting,” Stokes said during a chat with New Zealand spinner Ish Sodhi at the Royals Podcast.

Asked about Smith’s attention to detail, Stokes said he can never be like that.

“I could never be like that, personally I could not think about cricket in the way that he does when it comes to batting. You know obviously he’s on all the time but that’s why he averages sixty whatever he does in Test cricket but that’s not for me but it’s for him, who’s to say whose right or wrong,” he added.

As far as Steve Smith’s overall Test record is concerned – he averages a remarkable 62.84 in the longest format after 73 games. The 30-year-old has 7227 runs to his name, including 26 tons and 29 half-centuries.