SA v AUS 2020: Steve Smith ‘pretty chilled’ as captaincy ban comes close to expiring

Smith was banned from the leadership role for two years after he was found to be one of the chief instigators in the ball-tampering saga.

By Salman Anjum - 02 Mar, 2020

Steve Smith's captaincy ban is set to end by the end of this month but the star batsman isn’t thinking about it as he feels Tim Paine and Aaron Finch are doing a fantastic job with the Test and limited-overs sides respectively.

See Also: Smith reclaims top spot in ICC Test batting rankings after Kohli’s poor show in New Zealand

Smith was handed a 12-month suspension apart from being banned from the leadership role for two years after he was found to be one of the chief instigators in the ball-tampering saga during the Cape Town against South Africa in March 2018.

"I'm pretty chilled to be honest," Smith told reporters ahead of the second ODI versus South Africa in Bloemfontein.

"I'm just enjoying playing and being amongst the boys. It's been really good. The guys are doing a terrific job, Finchy and Painey. I'll support them any way I can and help the team have success and hopefully score some more runs and do my job that way," he added.

Before the captaincy ban, Steve Smith had led his country in 34 Tests, 51 ODIs and 8 T20Is. While Australia won 18 Tests under Smith, they won 25 ODIs and 4 T20Is with him at the helm of affairs.

Currently, there is no reason to suggest a leadership change in Australian cricket with both Test skipper Paine and white-ball captain Finch doing well.

As per the media reports, Paine is keen to lead Australia to the inaugural World Test Championship final at Lord's midway through next year.

On the other hand, Finch has back-to-back T20 World Cups ahead in Australia later this year and India in 2021.

(Inputs from cricket.com.au)

 

By Salman Anjum - 02 Mar, 2020

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