Former India fast bowler Ashish Nehra concedes that Steve Smith was wrong in orchestrating ball-tampering but it will be sad if the under-fire Australian captain is barred from participating in the Indian Premier League.
Smith has been suspended for a Test and docked 100 percent of his match fee by ICC for instigating Cameron Bancroft to tamper the ball with a sandpaper during the third day of the third Test against South Africa in Cape Town.
Since Smith spoke about the leadership group's role in the controversy, David Warner too could also face possible sanctions from Cricket Australia.
"I know what they did was wrong. But if we think that this is the first time that ball tampering is happening, then that is also wrong. But the best part is they admitted their mistake and ICC has sanctioned them. Obviously, we don't know what Cricket Australia will do but if they don't play, it will be a huge setback for Rajasthan Royalsand Sunrisers Hyderabad. They are quality players and it will be sad if they miss out on IPL," Nehra told reporters on Monday.
When asked whether bowlers should get some leeway as reverse swing is a difficult art, he gave an inimitable reply.
"Yes, it's an art but then stealing is also an art. Would you put a thief in jail or praise him. Reverse swing is an art but ball tampering is dishonesty. And there are ways to prepare a ball for reverse swing without tampering," Nehra, who is one of India's finest exponents of swing bowling, said during an announcement of HP as the principal sponsors of RCB.
"Also this is a phenomena, you will find mainly in Test cricket as in T20 and ODIs, it's difficult to reverse the white ball. In ODIs, two new white balls are used, so chances are really less. It's only in Test cricket which is played for a considerable amount of time that teams want their bowlers to try reverse swing.”