"You can't manipulate things; this is hypocrisy"- Salman Butt slams Australia for their stand on Steve Smith's captaincy

Former Pakistan skipper Salman Butt feels Australia haven't handled the Steve Smith situation well as far as his captaincy is concerned. The former Australian full-time skipper had to serve a 12-month ban from international cricket and a further 12-month leadership ban post the Sandpapergate episode.

Butt feels that Smith has served enough for his punishment and deserves to be in the reckoning for captaincy once again. Australia looked a completely different side under Smith's captaincy, but Salman Butt questioned those who felt that the star batter didn't 'deserve' to lead the team again.

In a video on his YouTube channel, here's what Salman Butt had to say about the captaincy comparison between Steve Smith and Pat Cummins:

"Pat Cummins is not a bad captain. But to not give Smith the captaincy just because he was involved in Sandpapergate is unfair. He has served his punishment. How is his advice accepted then if he doesn't have the right to captain? How is he the vice-captain? You can't manipulate things at your convenience. This is hypocrisy."

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It's Pat's team now: Steve Smith after Indore win

Although Steve Smith led the side brilliantly in Indore, he has accepted the fact that Pat Cummins will continue to lead the team and he will slide into the vice-captaincy role.

Smith also spoke about the art of captaincy in India and stated:

"My time as captain is done. It's Pat's team now. I've obviously been able to stand in this week, obviously in tough circumstances with Patty going home. Our thoughts are still with him back home. But India is a part of the world I love captaining, it's probably my favourite place in the world to captain."

It will be interesting to see if Pat Cummins returns in time for the fourth Test in Ahmedabad since he is still in Australia with his ailing mother.

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