Is a one year ban really fair for Steven Smith and others???
It doesn't matter if you are a cricket fan or not,the news of ball tampering incident at Newlands test match must have come to your ears.As a consequence of that incident,Australian captain Steven Smith,vice captain David Warner and newbie Cameron Bancroft were declared guilty of tampering the ball and were banned for 12,12 and 9 months respectively.
Now the big question arises that is a one year ban too harsh for Steven Smith and co?Well it is.This is because when Bancroft was caught,Smith himself came out and confessed that he was responsible for it.Now this takes some guts and honesty to pull off such a confession.What if he hadn't confessed?Well that would mean Bancroft getting a bigger punishment,but Smith didn't let it happen.
David Warner being the main culprit
Well you would be shocked to know but it wasn't Smith who came up with the plan of tampering the ball.The Vice Captain David Warner approached Smith and later both of them approached newbie Bancroft.So i guess if anyone deserves a one year ban it must be Warner.Within a week of being in a controversy with Quinton de Kock,Warner committed another mistake and this one being way bigger than the previous.So it is basically Warner who had disturbed the environment around the dressing room of the Australian Cricket team.
Then what might be a legit punishmnet for Smith and Bancroft?
According to me,both Steven Smith and Bancroft must have been banned for 6 months instead.Steven Smith seems to be really sorry for what he did.Besides,he is one of the best,probably the best test batsman in the world currently with an average above 60.A ban for 6 months would mean that he would get ample amount of game time before the World Cup in 2019.
ICC disappointed us yet again,credits to Cricket Australia
In the recent years we have seen that ICC has disappointed us again and again regarding incidents such as sledging,ball tampering etc.This incident was no special.ICC almost took no action against it.They banned the trio of their match fees and suspended them for one match,this was it.
Let us take a moment to appreciate the Autralian Cricket Board who took immediate action against Smith and co.They have assured that no player wearing the precious Baggy Green ever cheats the game again.
Smith and Warner have also been sacked from this season of IPL.They were captains of Rajasthan Royals and Sunsrisers Hyderabad respectively.
Overhyping the incident
The incident surely have hurted cricketers and cricket fans all over the globe,but i somehow feel that the incident has been overhyped.Especially the media of south-east asian countries have given it more coverage than it should have gotten.No doubt Smith,Warner and Bancroft have insulted the game but the punishment has been announced for them.So it is completely irrational now to tweet about them or troll them on social media.After all,they are human beings.To err is human.They will realise their mistake and never repeat such things ever again.For the time being,their punishment serves as a warning to all of the other cricketers who tend to break the rules of the game.We mustn't forget that Cricket is a Gentleman's game and this is why it is different from other sports.
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