Delhi Capitals batsman Steve Smith is ready to captain Australia again if an opportunity arises in the future. Smith was stripped off captaincy after being involved in the ball tampering scandal against South Africa in Cape Town three years ago. Smith, Cameron Bancroft, and David Warner also had to serve suspension imposed by Cricket Australia.
In an interview with News Corp, Smith admitted that he will be ready to step in if Cricket Australia decides that it is the best decision for the team while going forward.
“I guess now I’ve got to a point where if the opportunity did come up again I would be keen. If it was what Cricket Australia wanted and it was what was best for the team at the time, it’s certainly something I would be interested in.”
“I’m always going to have to live with Cape Town regardless of whether I lead again or not. It’s always there. Time keeps moving forward, and I’ve learnt so much the last few years about myself and grown as a human being.”
After the ball-tampering incident, Smith and Warner received a twelve-month suspension from all forms of international and domestic cricket, while Bancroft was given nine month suspension. Tim Paine was handed the captaincy of test team, while Aaron Finch leads Australia in white ball cricket.
Smith and Warner had to step down as captains of the Rajasthan Royals and Sunrisers Hyderabad, respectively ahead of IPL 2018. On 28 March 2018, the BCCI announced that neither Smith nor Warner would be able to play in the 2018 IPL.
Since serving suspension, Smith and Warner have walked into the team due to batting struggles of Australia in their absence. Both players have delivered some scintillating performances across three formats. Warner also went on to lead SRH in IPL, while Smith was given the role of captaincy at Rajasthan Royals.
As of now, Smith is also in the running for the captaincy of Delhi Capitals following the injury to captain Shreyas Iyer. Vice-captain Rishabh Pant, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ajinkya Rahane are also in the race for captaincy. Smith who has previously captained Rajasthan Royals has won 25 out of the 43 Matches and Lost 17. The Rajasthan based franchise decided to release him from the squad in January. Delhi Capitals had picked him up for Rs 2.2 crores during IPL 2021 auction in February.