Former India skipper Sourav Ganguly feels that Rajasthan Royals will remove Steve Smith from captaincy after the recent ball-tampering scandal. Meanwhile, ICC gave a one-match ban to Smith following his admission that he was a party to a decision to alter the ball’s condition while Cameron Bancroft avoided it but got three demerit points.
The ball-tampering incident took place on the third day in Cape Town, escalating the tension around what has been an ill-tempered series.
Meanwhile, television footage showed Bancroft take what he said was a yellow tape out of his trouser pocket before rubbing the ball to alter its condition.
However, later Smith said the team’s “leadership group” had a plan, carried out by Cameron Bancroft, to tamper with the ball to “get an advantage.”
Cricket Australia had already launched an investigation into this scandal. Further, Australia’s Prime Minister had admitted this kind of events is not acceptable.
Rajasthan will remove Smith as captain:
Meanwhile, with only a few days to go for the Indian Premier League, everybody is looking forward to Rajasthan Royals and Sunrisers Hyderabad regarding their decision on Smith and Warner.
Ganguly believes that the IPL franchises will not withdraw the contract, but they will surely look to remove them from captaincy role. While talking to India Today, Ganguly specifically pointed out Rajasthan, who is coming back after two years ban.
“I think they (franchisees) will not withdraw the IPL contract. What Rajasthan Royals is going to do is, I just have a feeling, that they will just get rid of Steve Smith as captain because they have come out of a tough couple of years. They were handed two-year suspension because of betting and fixing. They will remove Steve Smith as captain and probably make Ajinkay Rahane the captain. And he will make a good captain,” Ganguly said.
The southpaw further added that if Rajasthan does that, Hyderabad will also follow the same.
“Following what Rajasthan Royals will do, I think Sunrisers Hyderabad will also do that. If Rajasthan Royals don’t do it, Sunrisers may not do it,” he added.
Ganguly also revealed that Ajinkya Rahane and Shikhar Dhawan is likely to step in as the skipper.
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