"Why is Steve Smith looked upon as a different punishment to David Warner?" - Ian Chappell questions the former's return to leadership duty

Former Australian captain Ian Chappell has slammed Cricket Australia for adopting different stances on leadership roles for Steve Smith and David Warner. In a landmark decision, Cricket Australia appointed Steve Smith as Pat Cummins' deputy for the Test team.

Steve Smith and David Warner served stringent punishments for their roles in the ball-tampering scandal in 2018. However, the board banned Warner from holding any leadership role for life. Meanwhile, Smith wasn't eligible for the captaincy for a year after their punishment.

Speaking to Wide World of Sports Radio, Ian Chappell questioned why Steve Smith is treated differently than David Warner. Taking a dig at Cricket Australia for constantly doing the wrong thing, Chappell said:

"I wish that Cricket Australia had made a clean break, but for Cricket Australia to get anything right at the moment is asking a bit much. For starters, I have a problem ... Why is Steve Smith looked upon as a different punishment to David Warner?"

Tim Paine's resignation as Test captain following the sexting scandal prompted Cricket Australia to replace him with Cummins. The 36-year-old wicketkeeper initially intended to continue as a player in the Ashes series. However, he took an indefinite break from cricket.

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"If anything, I think Steve Smith's crime was greater" - Ian Chappell

Rod Marsh and Ian Chappell. (Credits: Getty)

Chappell further claimed that Smith was the greater culprit from the fallout and feels the punishment must be equal for both. The 78-year old added:

"In fact, if anything, I think Steve Smith's crime was greater. For a captain to say, 'I don't want to know' when cheating's involved, is not correct. A captain's got to know, he's got to find out and he's got to do something about it. Either Steve Smith has a two-year ban from captaincy and so does David Warner, or Steve Smith has a life ban and so does Dave Warner. Same thing."

Cummins' elevation to the captaincy means Australia have a frontline bowler to lead the Test team. The number one Test bowler hasn't captained international cricket yet. But he has done so for New South Wales in one-day domestic cricket.