Shane Warne not in favour of Steve Smith returning as Australia captain again: Report

Australian batsman Steve Smith was one of the three cricketers who was temporarily banned from international cricket for his involvement in the 2018 ball-tampering scandal. While Smith’s 12-month playing ban ended in 2019, his two-year leadership ban was lifted on Sunday. While the prolific batsman is now eligible to lead Australia again, an Australian cricket legend does not want Smith to be made the national team's captain again.

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Shane Warne lauds Tim Paine, describes Pat Cummins a replacement candidate

Australian spin legend Shane Warne believes that Steve Smith should focus on his batting instead of returning to captaincy. In an interview with an England-based news daily, the spin wizard insisted that current Test captain Tim Paine should keep his job in the meantime. He also said that there are other candidates (apart from Steve Smith) in the Australian side to be considered for the leadership role, in case if there is a dip in Tim Paine’s batting form.

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In the interview, Shane Warne recommended mercurial pacer Pat Cummins as one of the ideal candidates to become the next Australian leader. Pat Cummins is currently ranked the No. 1 Test bowler in the world in the International Cricket Council (ICC) rankings. Cummins was also one of the architects of Australia’s Ashes campaign in 2019 as the pacer bagged 29 wickets in the biennial event.  

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Tim Paine as Australian Test captain

Tim Paine was appointed as Australia’s Test captain immediately after Steve Smith's one-year exile from the team. Paine famously steered Australia to a 2-2 Ashes-retaining draw in England in 2019. The series also saw the return of Steve Smith to Australia’s Test side, where the batsman scored 774 runs across four matches at a Bradman-esque average of 110.57.

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Australian presence in the now-postponed IPL 2020

With the continuous threat of the coronavirus pandemic, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) delayed the highly-anticipated Indian Premier League (IPL 2020) season until further notice. The tournament was originally scheduled to commence on March 29. Several top Australian stars like Steve Smith, David Warner, Pat Cummins and Glenn Maxwell among others were slated to represent their respective sides in India’s mega T20 carnival. Even the long-retired Shane Warne is associated with the T20 event as the former cricketer is one of the co-owners of a popular IPL franchise, Rajasthan Royals. However, Australian cricket will have to wait a while as IPL 2020 is likely to face further delays going ahead.

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