Former England batsman Kevin Pietersen has hailed ex-Australian skipper Steve Smith for accepting the charges laid against him by Cricket Australia in March. The sanction came in the wake of ball-tampering in Cape Town.
The 29-year-old Smith is one of the three punished players. He revealed that he would accept all the sanctions against him.
On Wednesday, Smith revealed the news on his social channels to his fans and well-wishers.
His tweet read: “I would give anything to have this behind me and be back representing my country. But I meant what I said about taking full responsibility as Captain of the team.”
“I won’t be challenging the sanctions. They’ve been imposed by CA to send a strong message and I have accepted them,” it added.
I would give anything to have this behind me and be back representing my country. But I meant what I said about taking full responsibility as Captain of the team. I won’t be challenging the sanctions. They’ve been imposed by CA to send a strong message and I have accepted them.
— Steve Smith (@stevesmith49) April 4, 2018
Smith is serving a twelve-month ban from playing for Australia in International cricket. He is also banned from consideration in captaincy role for next 24 months. On the other hand, young cricketer Cameron Bancroft has also insisted on accepting all the charges. Hours after Smith made his decision public, Bancroft followed him.
Pietersen, who looked at the tweet, replied “THAT IS A TWEET! Brilliant, buddy!”. The former English international looks very happy with the decision Smith has made after the scandal.
THAT IS A TWEET!
Brilliant, buddy! https://t.co/FoJzF8B03w
— Kevin Pietersen? (@KP24) April 4, 2018
Pietersen has had his fair share of controversies during his playing days before being dropped out of the team.
The hard-hitting batsman Kevin Pietersen had revealed that he is retiring from all forms of cricket last month.
Warner Still Undecided Over Appeal
The ball-tampering scandal in which Aussies used sandpaper to get an advantage through reverse swing, has taken cricketing fraternity by shock.
The 31-year old is set to discuss the sanctions with his advisers in Melbourne. He has till 5 pm on Thursday to appeal on his sanctions.
However, Warner was also sanctioned to never captain Australia again in the future. He will not be a candidate for the post ever in Australian national team. We will need to wait until Thursday to learn more about Warner’s decision.
Here’s the newsfeed:
Full schedule revealed for Sri Lanka hosting South Africa In July
IPL 2018: Virat Kohli shakes a leg with Chahal and McCullum