It will be very sad if any IPL team fails to get the services of Smith and Warner, says Ashish Nehra
Ashish Nehra feels that it would be extremely unfortunate if the Australian duo of Steven Smith and Davin Warner are forced to miss out on the upcoming season of the IPL. Nehra has also added that it was important to forget whatever has happened and move forward from the ball-tampering incident.
It’s been a grim week for the Australian Cricket and not only for the cricketing reasons. Ever since the ball-tampering incident came to light, things have taken a turn for the worse for the team who are currently on tour in South Africa. After Smith was asked to step down as captain of the Test team for the Newlands Test, he was also given a one-match ban and fined his match fee for his involvement in the incident. Rajasthan Royals have also opted to go for Ajinkya Rahane as captain of the team as Smith stepped down from the role.
Former Indian pacer Ashish Nehra claimed that if the duo of Smith-Warner were banned from the IPL, it would be a loss for the franchise and fans of the sport. He added that it was important to forget and move on from the incident as he believed that the ICC will do its part to punish the accused.
"It will be very sad if any IPL team fails to get their services. Whether they are retained as captains of their respective IPL teams, it's for the franchises to decide, but it will be a big loss to both Rajasthan (Royals) and Sunrisers (Hyderabad) if they lose players of such
"I don't think they deserve such harsh punishments, whatever happened
Warner’s involvement in the entire incident was also highlighted as he was stripped off his tag of vice-captain of the Test team for the match. The left-handed opener was the skipper for the Sunrisers Hyderabad outfit in last year’s tournament but his involvement this time a
"If Smith has done something wrong, the ICC will take care of such things which they have already done, by
Nehra also pointed out that such incidents are not unheard of in red ball cricket where players are out for long sessions. He added that ball-tampering is rarely seen in limited overs cricket.
"You won't see these ball tampering things more in white ball cricket, especially now when you have two new balls operating from either end. You can see these things more in red ball cricket where you have longer sessions," Nehra said.
