Steve Smith has been in top form since his comeback to Test cricket. Former players and fans believe that he will captain the Australia side once again after Paine gives up his role. Former Australian captain Mark Taylor too said that Smith will surely lead the side again.

Taylor told Sydney Morning Herald, “I believe Smith will captain Australia again. I was on the Cricket Australia board that determined the penalties for Smith, David Warner and Cameron Bancroft over the events of Cape Town and have no doubt he will be a better leader next time around because of the very harsh lessons he learnt.”

After the trio was banned in South Africa for ball-tampering, Tim Paine took the captaincy role in Tests. He has been receiving a lot of criticism because of his performances with the bat. However, it was under him that the Aussies retained the Ashes urn in England for the first time since steve Waugh did it in 2001.

Therefore Taylor believes that it is not necessary that Smith will be captain right after the captaincy ban ends in March 2020. He is one of the sure candidates to take up the job after Paine.

“To me, it’s not a matter of whether he (Smith) becomes captain again on April 1. It doesn’t have to happen that quickly. But I’d like to think when Paine is finished as Test captain, whether that’s in six months’ time or two or three years, he would be a candidate to lead the side again,” Taylor said.

The fifth Ashes Test begins today (12 September) at the Kennington Oval.

(Inputs from CricketNext)