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Smith not yet ready to return as captain: Langer

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6th December, 2020
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Coach Justin Langer says Australia’s Twenty20 against India was too early for Steve Smith to regain the captaincy, but the former skipper’s time may come in the future.

Smith’s 24-month leadership ban, imposed by Cricket Australia in the aftermath of the ball-tampering saga, expired in March.

However, Sunday night’s T20 at the SCG delivered confirmation the superstar batsman still has work to do if he is to ever lead his country again.

Smith scored 46 but his night otherwise didn’t get any better after the snub.

The right-hander was struck by a delivery from Deepak Chahar and he was involved in a horrible mix-up with Matthew Wade that led to the stand-in skipper’s dismissal on 58.

Wade and Smith were both ball-watching after the former chipped the ball to Virat Kohli, who dropped a juggling catch then had time to complete a simple run-out at the keeper’s end.

Wade was clearly far from impressed with the breakdown in communication, which came when Smith was on three.

Langer, chairman of selectors Trevor Hohns and CA bigwigs had previously failed to deliver any concrete answers regarding where Smith sits in the captaincy conversation.

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Aaron Finch’s glute injury, coupled with vice-captain Pat Cummins being rested for the entire T20 series, meant they needed to make a call in Sydney.

Former vice-captains Josh Hazlewood and Alex Carey were also out of the XI.

But Wade was given the nod ahead of Smith, who led Australia in 51 one-dayers, 34 Tests and eight T20s prior to being stripped of the captaincy.

“Of course, we talked about a number of things,” Langer told Fox Sports, when asked if Smith was considered.

“We’ve got so many options.

“Steve Smith has done a brilliant job in the past.

“There’s probably a bit of a process we need to go through until he becomes captain again. We’ll go through that.

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“When the English crowd gave him a standing ovation at The Oval last year – talk about earning respect … he’s doing all the right things to show leadership without a title at the moment.”

Wade’s appointment as vice-captain in the T20 series opener suggested he was always in the box-seat to step up if Finch was forced to miss Sunday’s clash.

But former Test captain Mark Taylor was among those suggesting it was a golden opportunity to reinstate Smith, who recently led Rajasthan during the IPL.

“There’s no doubt mistakes were made two-and-a-half years ago now in Cape Town. There’s been penalties and they’ve been served,” Taylor told the Nine Network.

“Now we’ve got to move on. Steve Smith is still looked at by this side as a leader.

“He’s a senior player.”

© AAP

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