Steve Smith & David Warner – Downfall of the Captains
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The former captain and vice-captain of the Australian cricket teams Steve Smith and David Warner respectively had to step down from their positions after they were allegedly charged for ball-tampering in Cape Town against South Africa during their third Test match. The Cricket Australia asked them to return from South Africa to their home town and after much trial and discussion, they were finally barred from playing for complete one year.
The whole affair started when Cameron Bancroft, the opener was caught on camera red handed while tampering with the ball by rubbing it on a yellow sheet. Later after inspection, they admitted that the trio did that to bring some favorable alterations in the spins. The CEO of Cricket Australia confirmed that only the trio were involved in this foul strategy and no one else.
They were asked to return their home ground for further proceedings where Steve and Warner were banned for 12 months and Bancroft for 9 months. Although there have been many interviews and press conferences addressing direct questions to Steve and Warner but they have only replied with evasive answers as of yet.
The BCCI, The Board of Control for Cricket in India did wait long after the allegations were proved right. Sunrisers Hyderabad and Rajasthan Royals had announced that David Warner and Steve Smith would step down from the positions of their respective captainship but the chairman of the governing council of IPL Rajiv Shukla declared that both the accused Australian players will not be allowed to play in the IPL at all this season. This is to maintain the spirit of cricket and keep the code of conduct for players intact. In return, both the franchisees Rajasthan Royals and Sunrisers Hyderabad got to replace their captains with their choice.
Rajasthan Royals and Sunrisers Hyderabad made a fair decision at the time of the auction to retain both their respective captains by paying a whopping amount 12 cr. Though it backfired them miserably now that both their team’s strongest players have to step down.
Rajasthan Royals have smartly replaced Steve with Heinrich Klaasen, the South African right-handed batsman with a decent amount of 5 million Indian Rupees. The captaincy of the franchise has now fallen under the leadership of Ajinkya Rahane. His impressive record of 2182 runs in a total of 80 matches in his IPL career with the decent strike rate of 119.41 with an average of 34.63 has made him the best and most reliable candidate for the Royals for captaincy.
Sunrisers Hyderabad, on the other hand, has replaced David Warner with the 29-year-old England cricket team’s batsman Alex Hales. He gave an amazing performance in T20 Internationals against Sri Lanka in 2014 by scoring 116 runs in 29 matches that resulted in him being an integral part of the team’s victory. Kane Williamson, the 29-year-old New Zealand player will be the acting captain of the team. Kane has been an important part in the maiden victory of Sunrisers Hyderabad in 2016, the reason why he has been retained by the franchise ever since.
The players preparing for fantasy cricket like Pro Sports League will have to now change their decisions of having Warner and Smith in their teams and find an appropriate replacement for both. Though the players were chosen for the replacement by the franchisees also seem a good option, a thorough research before selecting the online cricket teams to win credits would be a better option.
