Justin Langer reveals why Steve Smith didn't captain the Australian team in the second T20I against India

Australia lost the T20I series against India by 0-2 in home conditions after losing the second T20 International at Sydney Cricket Ground on Sunday, December 6 by 6 wickets. Australia was without the services of their skipper Aaron Finch and aggressive opening batsman David Warner. While Warner was ruled out of the T20I series after suffering a groin injury, Finch was declared unfit to play the Sunday game.

In the absence of Finch, the cricket fans expected to see former skipper Steve Smith again donning the captain hat for Australia. However, everyone was left surprised when wicketkeeper-batsman Matthew Wade walked out of the dressing room for the toss before the start of the second T20I game. Australian pacer Pat Cummins, who is also the vice-captain of the limited-overs team, has been rested for the T20I series against India.

Thus, in his absence, Wade was named as the vice-captain and he essayed the role of stand-in captain for the home team in the second T20I. This raised a lot of speculations on why the management is not handing the leadership duties to an experienced skipper like Smith. The Australian head coach Justin Langer finally answered the million-dollar question in interaction with Fox Sports.

Justin Langer explains the reason behind Matthew Wade captaining the Australia team

Langer revealed that Smith was considered for the role by the authorities as he has done a brilliant job for Australia in the past. However, a certain process needs to be followed to hand him the captaincy duties again. The head coach also asserted that Steve is showing the character of a great leader even without the title at the moment.

Speaking to Fox Sports, Langer said, “Matty Wade was the vice-captain, Steve Smith has done a brilliant job in the past, there is a process probably to go through till he becomes captain again. We’ll go through that. He is doing all the right things to show leadership without a title at the moment.”

Notably, Steve Smith and David Warner were banned from the game of cricket for one year after they were found guilty in the Ball-tampering scandal in South Africa in 2018. Along with the two batsmen, the bowler Cameron Bancroft was also handed a 9 -month ban from the game.

In addition, Smith was also sacked from the skipper duties and was banned from captaincy for a two-year period. His captaincy ban period ended in March 2020 but the Australian management is yet to take a call about him.