As Australia’s regular captain Aaron Finch suffered a hip injury, Matthew Wade has been given the captaincy of the ongoing second T20I match against India despite having former captain Steve Smith in the squad.
Steve Smith has been overlooked for captaincy after the infamous Cape Town episode in 2018 when he was found guilty of ball-tampering. He was banned for one year by Cricket Australia while the captaincy of the national team was also snatched from him.
Cricket boffins have stated that it is high time for Australia to move on from the past and Smith should be retained for the captaincy position.
Justin Langer, head coach of the Australian team, stated that Smith is in their plan for the captaincy position but “there is a process to go through until he becomes captain again”.
“Steve Smith has done a brilliant job in the past. There is a process to go through until he becomes captain again. We’ll go through that,” Langer told Fox Sports before the match.
Steve Smith Doing All The Right Things To Show Leadership Without A Title: Justin Langer
Langer recalled the Ashes series which marked the return of Smith in international cricket. The unorthodox batsman dismantled England’s bowler’s attack to retain the urn. The Test series gave him the respect back which was tarnished after the Cape Town match. The head coach said Smith is doing all the right things to show leadership without a title at the moment.
“We know what a great player he is, we’ve seen that his whole career. When the English crowd gave him a standing ovation at the Oval last year, talk about earning respect, and earning back respect … [it was] one of the fondest moments of my coaching career. He’s doing all the right things to show leadership without a title at the moment.”
Meanwhile, Australia has given a daunting 195 runs target to India in Sydney in the penultimate T20I match of the three-match series.