Ashish Nehra believes life ban on the Australian players would be harsh

The cricketing world was taken aback after Australia was clearly caught on cameras while ball tampering during the third Test against South Africa in Cape Town. Cameron Bancroft was at the centre of all the happenings as he had the yellow-coloured tape in his pocket which he used to scruff the ball. Steve Smith, as the skipper, came forward and accepted the mistake of his team later in the press conference even as he stepped down from the helm soon. However, Ashish Nehra has appreciated his courage to come forward and take the responsibility.

Cricket Australia (CA) chief James Sutherland was not at all amused after what transpired in the rainbow nation and cleared that the strict actions will be taken on the players involved in the incident. Even Smith and David Warner stepped down from their respective positions with immediate effect in the middle of the Test match. While the whole team is under the scrutiny and recieving severe criticism, there are also a few who have appreciated Smith for accepting the mistake.

Australians should be penalised

The former Indian cricketer Ashish Nehra, while speaking to ANI, was appreciative of Smith who bravely accepted whatever he did on the field in Cape Town in press conference. He also went on to say that they should be penalised for their actions. “These kinds of incidents have happened even in the past. If the International Cricket Council (ICC) feels that Cameron Bancroft or Steve Smith have done something wrong, then definitely they should be penalised. If they have admitted their mistakes, then it’s a great thing from their sides,” he said.

The 38-year-old was also of the opinion that the life ban on these players would be too harsh and felt that the ICC’s punishment is enough for time being. “Life ban will be really harsh for them. Not just for them, but for any player. You have to give them credit that they admitted their mistake. I think to step down from the captaincy & one test match ban is enough for both the players,” he added.

ICC suspended Smith for one Test match and fined 100 percent of his match fee, while Bancroft was handed over 3 demerit points to go with the fine of 75 percent match fees.

Here’s our video of the day:

Keep following CricTracker for more news and updates.