"Djokovic finding out what it's been like to bowl to Steve Smith"- Stuart Broad's cheeky remark to Australian star's service return in charity match

Former England pacer Stuart Broad made a cheeky remark over the viral video of Australian batter Steve Smith returning tennis legend Novak Djokovic's serve at the charity match on January 11.

With several fun matches played for charity ahead of the 2024 Australian Open, the duel between cross-sport icons took the sporting world by storm. Djokovic produced a routine body serve to which Smith nonchalantly created space and made a return, stunning fans at Melbourne Park.

The world's No.1 tennis player was himself surprised by Smith's uber-cool return and bowed to the champion cricketer in admiration.

A day later, Broad empathized with Djokovic in a tongue-in-cheek manner on his Instagram handle by stating how he felt bowling to Smith on the cricket field for years.

"Djokovic finding out what it's been like to bowl to Steve Smith for the last 10 years," captioned Broad.

Stuart Broad's remark to the Djokovic-Smith tennis exchange.

Novak Djokovic holds the record for the most Grand Slam titles at 24. He will be gunning for an 11th Australian Open title when the tournament starts later this month.

Meanwhile, Smith and Broad have entertained fans with their intense rivalry in several high-octane Ashes series. Despite dismissing the Australian star 11 times in Tests, Smith has averaged over 52 against Broad in their encounters over the past decade.

The former captain is Australia's fourth leading run-scorer in Tests with 9,514 runs at an average of 58.01, including 32 centuries. Smith has scored 12 of his 32 Test tons in the Ashes against England.

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Stuart Broad had a fairytale ending to his Test career in the 2023 Ashes

Stuart Broad retired from international cricket at the end of the 2023 Ashes series, finishing as the fifth leading wicket-taker in cricket history.

The 37-year-old picked up the last two wickets in his final outing, the fifth Test of the series, to help England pull off a 55-run win. Added to his fairytale ending was a six in the last ball he faced with the bat in the same game.

Broad finished his Test career with 604 wickets at an average of 27.68 with 20 five-wicket hauls in 167 matches. He formed the most accomplished pace-bowling duo in Tests with teammate James Anderson.

Anderson is still going strong at 41 with 690 wickets, which is third all-time behind only Shane Warne and Muthiah Muralidaran.

While his white-ball numbers aren't in the same ballpark as his Test record, Broad picked up an admirable 243 wickets in 177 combined ODIs and T20Is. The champion bowler played a vital role in England winning their maiden T20 World Cup title in 2010.