'There is no captaincy position available' - Justin Langer on Steve Smith's hopes of regaining captaincy

Australia head coach Justin Langer has given a blunt reply to Steve Smith’s hopes of regaining captaincy by making it clear that the former skipper would not get the role at least in the near future. Smith was sacked as captain in 2018 in the wake of the infamous sandpaper gate. Following the scandal, he was slapped with a one-year ban from cricket and a two-year leadership ban.

The ban ended in March last year but Smith has not been considered for the captaincy role so far. At present, Tim Paine is leading the Test side while Aaron Finch is in charge of the limited-overs team. But the call to reinstate Smith as captain has increased following Australia’s defeat at the hands of India in the home Test series earlier this year.

And Smith recently added fuel to the fire by expressing his desire to lead Australia again. The batting star stated that he is willing to take up captaincy if Cricket Australia decides to hand the responsibility to him again.

“I guess now I’ve got to a point where if the opportunity did come up again I would be keen. If it was what Cricket Australia wanted and it was what was best for the team at the time, it’s certainly something I would be interested in. I’m always going to have to live with Cape Town regardless of whether I lead again or not. It’s always there. Time keeps moving forward, and I’ve learned so much the last few years about myself and grown as a human being,” Smith told NewsCorp.

We have two very good captains: Justin Langer

Steve Smith might have started harboring the hopes of leading his country again but Justin Langer is in no mood to hand him the captain’s hat. The Australia coach has thrown his support firmly behind Finch and Paine by hailing them as ‘very good captains’. Langer also made it clear that he has his eyes set on the crucial year in which Australia will play the T20 World Cup in India and the Ashes at home.

“We have two very good captains and two important competitions coming up – an Ashes and a T20 World Cup. Our future looks good. Despite the media chatter, there is no captaincy position available,” Justin Langer told ABC.