IND v AUS 2020: 'We don't have too many obvious replacements' - Border backs Steve Smith to become captain when Paine moves on
While Australia are being considered favourites to win the forthcoming Border-Gavaskar Trophy, one shouldn’t write off India this early. Former Australia captain Allan Border reckons if the visitors retain the coveted silverware, Tim Paine’s position could come under scrutiny and Steve Smith could return to the captaincy fold.
After Smith was stripped of the captaincy following the 2018 ball-tampering scandal in Cape Town, Paine was elevated to the top job. The wicketkeeper-batsman had a rusty start to his tenure, but he has brilliantly covered ground to see Australia currently sitting atop the ICC Test rankings.
A second successive home Test series defeat at the hands of India could bring Steve Smith back in contention for the illustrious post, 1987 World Cup-winning captain Border opined during an online media interaction from Sydney.
“Yes, that will be a discussion for sure. I must admit I have softened a little bit in my stance on Steve Smith and future captaincy. Initially I thought...do you want to revisit all that stuff being rehashed?" Border said while answering a question by Sportskeeda.
"If Steve Smith is made captain of Australia, you have to go through sandpaper gate and all that discussion by the media – should he, shouldn’t he be captain again? Do you need that? You just look at Steve Smith play and the amount of runs that he scores,” he continued.
Steve Smith stayed away from professional cricket for a year and completed a two-year ban on captaincy roles in March this year. Border, though, didn’t sound okay with Smith still facing stick from the cricketing world for something he has already apologised and served the statutory punishment for.
“But having thought about little bit in recent times, I think he probably got harshly treated...I mean he probably should have jumped on things a bit earlier as captain or he was trying to turn a blind eye," Border said.
"But I think he’s served his time. And when I look around Australian cricket, we haven’t got too many obvious replacements when Tim Paine moves on and Australia’s thinking about another captain,” Border stated.
‘Steve Smith’s learnt a hard lesson and he would be a better captain as a result,’ says Border
Before Matthew Wade replaced the injured Aaron Finch as skipper in the second T20I against India on December 6, there were talks of Steve Smith filling in the latter’s shoes. That was when pundits started imaging fast bowler Pat Cummins, who was rested for the series, as captain of Australia.
Allan Border acknowledged that the 27-year-old speedster could play the role to perfection, but said it would be hard for a pacer to put in the hard yards, take care of his fitness and also run the team.
“Patrick Cummins could do the job. He’s a fantastic young fellow, good head on his shoulders. But being a fast bowler, being your spearhead bowler, I just reckon that’s really hard to be captain as well,” Border, who scored 17,698 runs from 156 Tests and 273 ODIs, said.
While there are a few captaincy candidates within the Australian setup, Border feels the ban has got Steve Smith to look at things differently.
“I just reckon Steve Smith would be a good choice. He’s learnt a hard lesson, and I think he would be a better captain as a result...Yes, he could probably do the job again for Australia,” Border concluded.
The four-match Test series between India and Australia begins with a pink-ball game at the Adelaide Oval starting on Thursday (December 17).
Watch the Border-Gavaskar Test series from December 17, 8:30 am onwards, Live and Exclusive only on Sony Six, Sony Ten 1 and Sony Ten 3 (Hindi) channels.