It was not the departure from South Africa Steve Smith would have expected even in his nightmare. The ex-Australia skipper’s South Africa sojourn started on a perfect note. The visitors overcame the formidable hosts in the first of the four-Test series to go one-nil up.

However, things went haywire since then. Australia lost the second Test which was marred by on and off-field controversies. David Warner was involved in a players’ tunnel bust-up with Quinton de Kock. There were ugly moments on the field too. And as if those were not enough, the ball tampering scandal unraveled in the following Test at Newlands.

Cameron Bancroft was spotted trying to change the condition of the ball with sandpaper. Later, Smith sensationally revealed that it was planned by the ‘leadership group.’ Not surprisingly, repercussions soon followed. The ICC banned Smith for a match. Cricket Australia then went ahead and banned the batsman for a year. The Australian board also handed lengthy bans to David Warner and Bancroft. All the three players were sent home ahead of the fourth Test.

Amidst all these, a video clip emerged which shocked the cricketing fraternity. Smith was seen being manhandled while he was leaving the African country. Boos and calls of ‘cheat’ welcomed Smith as he was making his way out. And many thought that Australia’s disgraced star was being treated badly by police too. Smith was surrounded by at least six police officers and was led by the hand through the airport. Even some legendary players thought on the same line and took to Twitter to express their feelings.

Absolutely disgraceful to everyone there.. can’t treat Steve smith like this @stevesmith49… u all are crazy pic.twitter.com/zGXgFWL9PP

— Sourav Ganguly (@SGanguly99) March 29, 2018

This is disgraceful ! @stevesmith49 is not a criminal !!!!! pic.twitter.com/b2SsfakARo

— Shane Warne (@ShaneWarne) March 28, 2018

Well, it seems the whole world has taken the whole scene in a wrong manner. The police was not manhandling Smith but was making sure that the top-ranked Test batsman manages to wade through the swarm of people unscathed. But the scenes were so chaotic that the police officers were painted in a wrong picture.