Mark Taylor Feels Steve Smith Can Captain Australia Yet Again

Former Australia captain, Mark Taylor has opined that Steve Smith can be seen leading the Australian team again, which is further subjected to Tim Paine’s form.

Cricket Australia banned Steve Smith along with David Warner and Cameron Bancroft for their involvement in the infamous ball-tampering saga in March 2018 in South Africa. Smith was handed a year ban from cricket, and another year from the captaincy role.

In a surprise announcement, Tim Paine, who was the wicket-keeper and himself struggling for a fixed spot in the team was appointed as the skipper of the Test team, and Aaron Finch was appointed as the captain for the limited-overs team.

Under Finch, Australia beat India in an ODI series in India and reached the semi-final of the World Cup, and under Paine, Australia regained the Ashes in England for the first time in 18 years.

I wouldn’t rule Smith out of captaining Australia in the future: Mark Taylor

All three banned players have made their comeback in international cricket. Warner was Australia’s leading run-scorer in the World Cup, Smith’s magnificent scores helped his side retain the Ashes. As Smith’s captaincy ban has ended, the question which the board faces is whether to give him Test captaincy back or let Paine continue.

Mark Taylor believes that Tim Paine’s career will influence this decision. He says that if the keeper plays a few more years, then it would be too late to give the leadership duties to Smith.

However, if Paine’s form drops soon or he himself decides to quit the captaincy, then, Taylor feels that the former captain could be reconsidered. He also acknowledged that Smith made some mistakes in South Africa, but he is sure that it won’t happen again.

As quoted by India Today, Mark Taylor said, “I think the thing that will potentially go against him is how long Tim Paine will play for,” Taylor said. “If he’s still there at 37, 38, then it might be too late for Steve. Conversely, if in the next year or so Tim’s form [drops] or he gives it away, I’d like to think Steve would be considered.

“Yes, some mistakes were made a couple of years ago, I still feel to the day he was very wary of the mistakes he made and I don’t think it would happen again. I wouldn’t rule him out of captaining Australia in the future.”

Taylor is also impressed with Tim Paine’s leadership in the last couple of years as he took over in a difficult time for Australian cricket. He reckons that Paine was made the captain because he was a senior player and had was the right man to bail the team out of a turbulent time.

Taylor added, “I think he’s done a very good job, don’t get me wrong, but I also think he took over at such a hard time and the cricket side was at such a low there was a lot of room for improvement, put it that way. There’s no doubt he was made captain because he was a senior cricketer in Australian cricket, with his head screwed on right, and therefore he was the right man for the job at the right time.

Australia will host India in six white-ball games and four red-ball matches. The hosts lost their previous series to the visitors, however, with the return of Smith, Warner, and the emergence of Marnus Labuschagne, the Aussie team, looks confident of regaining the Border-Gavaskar trophy.

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