Banned former Australia captain Steve Smith was seen helping out the Australian team prepare for the upcoming four-match Test series against India.

Smith was a central character in the Sandpaper gate that happened in South Africa during the Cape Town Test. The following investigation led to Steve Smith and David Warner being banned for a year each and Cameron Bancroft being banned for nine months from international and domestic cricket.

Steve Smith was caught in a candid chat over breakfast with new coach Justin Langer. Both Smith and Warner are being quietly eased back into the fold to help their bowlers combat Virat Kohli.

Australia Cricketers’ Association had urged Cricket Australia to relax the bans on the trio after Australia’s poor performances recently. The Australian Cricketers’ Association argued that the blame attributed to CA by the independent review was grounds to have the bans lifted.

But Cricket Australia refused to do so. CA interim chairman Earl Eddings said the board had “determined that it is not appropriate to make any changes to the sanctions handed down to the three players”.

Here is the video of Steve Smith with coach Justin Langer: