Ashes 2021-22: Ian Chappell opens up on if Steve Smith should captain Australia again- Talismanic Australia batsman was removed from the role of Australian captain after the Sand-Paper Gate, he was banned from cricket for 1 year and was banned from captaining the Australian side for two years. Now that the two years of the ban have passed many cricket pundits are suggesting that Cricket Australia should reappoint Smith as skipper. However, former Australia cricketer Ian Chappell has expressed that Smith should not captain Australia again.
Currently, Tim Paine is leading the test side, while Aaron Finch is the leader for the white-ball formats.
“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.
Earlier, Test skipper Paine has backed Smith to return to the leadership role in the future. The wicketkeeper-batter also added that he will support Smith fully if he gets the captaincy opportunity again.
“He’s probably a bit like me when I was at the start of my captaincy journey in Tasmania — he was thrown into a very big role at a very, very young age and he probably wasn’t quite ready for it. But by the time I came in he was growing into that role and getting better and better. Then obviously South Africa events happened and he’s not doing it anymore. But yeah I would support him getting that job again,” he added.
After losing to Pakistan and India at the start of his career, Paine was registered victorious over Sri Lanka, England, Pakistan and New Zealand. But, they lost the dramatic Border-Gavaskar series against India at home for the second time under his stint.
Australia Captaincy stats (Smith vs Paine)
Steve Smith- 34 Tests, 18 wins, 10 losses, 6 draw
Win percentage: 52.94%
Tim Paine- 23 Tests, 11 wins, 8 losses, 4 draw
Win percentage: 47.82 %