Steve Smith or Pat Cummins? Harsha Bhogle answers who Australia's next Test captain may be

Time Paine's tenure as skipper of the Australia test team came to a very sad end after being found involved in the 'sexting scandal' which rocked Australia cricket on Friday. With less than three weeks to go before the start of the Ashes series 2021, Tim Paine's involvement in the scandal has put Australia's Ashes defence into chaos. With Cricket Australia likely to announce the next skipper anytime soon, Commentor Harsha Bhogle through his tweet gave insight on who Cricket Australia can name the skipper of the Test team.

Harsha Bhogle's opinion on Australia's Test captain after Tim Paine resignation

Harsha Bhogle through his tweet has opined that Cricket Australia might have to look back at Steve Smith to lead the team in the longest format of the game. Another name in contention is fats bowler Pat Cummins who is currently the vice-captain of the Test team. Bhogle said that though Cummins would be a deserving candidate for the Test skippers role his workload needs to be managed with him playing three formats of the game.

Tim Paine apologises on Sexting Scandal

Tim Paine was all set to lead Australia in the upcoming Ashes series until his private text exchanges with a former Cricket Tasmania employee became public. The result of his act ended with him losing his job as the skipper and also issuing a public apology for his actions. While speaking at a press conference, Tim Paine said, 

Today, I'm announcing my decision to stand down as the captain of the Australian men's test team. It's an incredibly difficult decision, but the right one for me, my family, and cricket. As background on my decision, nearly four years ago, I was involved in a text exchange with a then-colleague. At the time, the exchange was the subject of a thorough CA Integrity Unit investigation, throughout which I fully participated in and openly participated in,". 

He further said, "However, I recently became aware that this private text exchange was going to become public. On reflection, my actions in 2017 do not meet the standard of an Australian cricket captain, or the wider community. I'm deeply sorry for the hurt and pain that I have caused to my wife, my family, and to the other party. I'm sorry for any damage that this does to the reputation of our sport,"