Steve Smith
Steve Smith (Credits: Twitter)

Tainted Australia batsman Steve Smith, who was stripped off his captaincy role for his involvement in the ball-tampering scandal, is eligible to retain his Australia captaincy after his two-year ban has come to an end.

After Steve Smith was stripped off his captaincy role, Tim Paine was named as the Test captain, while Aaron Finch was named the new One-Day International (ODI) captain ahead of their South Africa series in 2018.

Steve Smith’s captaincy ban

Steve Smith, Ban, Australia
Steve Smith. Credit: Getty Images

Apart from the 12-month playing ban, a two-year captaincy ban was also imposed on Steve Smith, after the ball-tampering scandal which broke out in South Africa in 2018. His ban, however, ended on Sunday and can be further given the role.

Australia’s last ODI series against New Zealand was called off due to the coronavirus pandemic. Further, the IPL might also get called off, as a precautionary step to withstand the deadly virus.

Steve Smith says IPL might not go ahead

Rajasthan Royals, IPL 2019, Steven Smith
Steven Smith (Credits – BCCI)

The IPL was deferred to April 15 from its original date of commencement. But as the situation stands, the lucrative tournament, might well be called off and Steve Smith believes the same. The former Australia captain also said that there might be a few meeting coming up in the next few days.

“It’s obviously not looking likely (the IPL will go ahead) at the moment,” Smith said. “I think there might be some meetings over the next few days to discuss what the go is with it all.

“I’m just trying to stay physically and mentally fit and fresh and, if it goes ahead at some point, then great. And if not, there’s plenty going on in the world at the moment. So just play it day by day.”It seems unlikely Smith will return to the captaincy when cricket resumes. Tim Paine is firmly established as Australia’s test captain and at 35 is not immediately considering retirement. Aaron Finch has captained Australia successfully in white ball cricket,” Smith told Channel Nine television’s Sports Sunday. 

 

Read More  Watch: 'Furious' Rishabh Pant's bat-bashing outburst after disappointing performance vs RR goes viral