'It's Time to Move on': Ian Chappell on Steve Smith's Chances of Leading Australia Again

Former Australia skipper Ian Chappell is of the opinion that Steve Smith should not lead the team again, as they are once again looking at a skipper ahead of the busy 2021-22 schedule. Tim Paine is leading them in the Tests while Aaron Finch is in command of the limited-overs side.

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The incumbent skipper Paine has backed Smith to lead Australia again, and has added that he will support the latter in getting the captaincy back again.

Meanwhile, Chappell has expressed his opinion on the same and feels that Smith is not the right person to lead the Aussies. In an interview with the Wide World Of Sports, Chappell has cautioned the Aussies going back to Smith as captain again. “I think it’s time to move on. To me, if you go back to Smith, you’re going backwards. It’s time to look ahead, not in the rear-vision mirror,” he explained.

The 77-year-old also shared his thought about the sandpaper gate, and said that there might be more to what Cameron Bancroft has shared with the world right now. “It’s probably something that’s been on Bancroft’s chest for a while, and he’s tried to get it off his chest as diplomatically as he possibly could. I’m not surprised, because Bancroft’s one of only three that got pinged for what happened, and most people would realise that there were more than three people involved,” he said.

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Chappell went on to say that Pat Cummins should not be perturbed by his comments as he is the unanimous choice for the captaincy role.

“If people start jumping up and down about Pat Cummins captaining Australia if he knew, well the answer is pretty clear because it falls back on Smith. He’s the bloke who should have stopped it. The captain’s got the overall say and power to stop it, and he didn’t. I don’t think it should count against Pat Cummins, even if they decide the bowlers did know. Smith is the bloke who should have made sure the whole thing never started,” Chappell concluded.

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• cameron bancroft
• ian chappell
• Pat Cummins
• steve smith