After serving 12 months ban from international cricket, former Australian skipper Steve Smith and opener David Warner will be eligible for team selection starting tomorrow. The duo faced a lot of heat due to the infamous Cape Town ball-tampering scandal last year.
The incident was captured by TV cameras during the third day of the Test match between Australia and South Africa at Newlands in 2018. Other than Smith and Warner, opening batsman Cameron Bancroft was also banned from all international and domestic cricket for 9 months.
Due to the scandal, both Steve Smith and David Warner couldn’t feature in the Indian Premier League 2018. The duo marked their comeback in IPL this season which began on 23rd March. Smith is a part of Rajasthan Royals franchise while David Warner is playing for Sunrisers Hyderabad.
As ban expires on Thursday, both players could mark their comeback to international cricket during the ICC World Cup scheduled from 30th May. Currently, the Australian team is playing the ODI series against Pakistan in UAE.
In yesterday’s match at Sheikh Zayed Cricket Stadium in Abu Dhabi, Australian team defeated Pakistan by 80 runs. Australian pacer Pat Cummins was awarded the ‘Man of the Match’ for his brilliant bowling performance (3 wickets for 23 runs). Winning the first 3 games of the 5-match series, Australia has also won the tournament (lead by 3-0).
The next match of the series will be played on Friday at Dubai International Cricket Stadium in Dubai.
