Steve Smith's leadership ban comes to an end, makes him eligible to captain Australia

Steve Smith, the former Aussie skipper was stripped off from the captaincy after he was found guilty for his involvement in the ball-tampering. He was handed with a year ban from Cricket Australia and a two-year leadership ban that ended on Sunday.

In 2018, Australia went on to tour South Africa. In the 2nd Test that was played in Cape Town, the trio of Steve Smith, Cameron Bancroft and David Warner was caught red-handed doing ball-tampering. The cricketing world was rocked with a controversy that left everyone in shock.

Smith and Warner were handed with a year ban from all forms of cricket. In the year 2019, both the players marked their return in the international outfit during 2019 World Cup. Since then, they have given some significant performances with the bat for their national team. In the meantime, Cricket Australia appointed Tim Paine as the skipper for the Test side and he did a convincing job.

Good news for Steve Smith

After Smith’s magnificent show in the 2019 World Cup and Ashes, the cricketing fraternity began with the debates that Cricket Australia should appoint the 32-year-old as the skipper once again as he has developed himself into a matured cricketer. It was not possible at that time as Smith was also handed with a two-year-leadership ban from CA. Now he is eligible to take the captaincy of the national team as the sentence came to its end on Sunday. However, at the moment the situation across the globe is not perfect for a cricket series due to the outbreak of Coronavirus.

Meanwhile, in a recent interview, Steve Smith said that he is trying to stay mentally and physically fit. The 30-year-old added the fact that he is working out hard at the gym at his home, going for some long run and practicing the guitar. Smith also recited that about the cash-rich league and said that it will be difficult to organize IPL under such stiff conditions. He feels that there are going to be some meetings held in the upcoming days to make a decision on the 13th edition of IPL.

“It’s obviously not looking likely (the IPL will go ahead) at the moment. I think there might be some meetings over the next few days to discuss what the go is with it all,” Smith said in an interview given to Channel Nine.