Usman Khawaja backs Steve Smith to become  Australia's captain again

Out of favour batsman Usman Khawaja has backed Steve Smith to don the captaincy hat for Australia once Tim Paine's tenure ends. Khawaja added that if Smith is ready to take up the captaincy role, Cricket Australia should hand it to him.

Steve Smith was given a one-year ban from playing any form of cricket and a two-year ban from taking up any leadership role after being involved in the infamous ball-tampering scandal in South Africa in 2018. The star batsman completed two years without a leadership role in March 2020 and is now free to become the captain of Australia if called upon.

Queensland skipper Usman Khawaja has said that given Smith's experience, he should be assigned the captaincy role again.

"If Steve Smith wants to captain Australia, I think he should captain Australia. He’s our number one batsman; he’s done it before, he’s paid for his mistakes, there’s no reason why he shouldn’t be in line for the captaincy if wants to do it,” Khawaja said.

Steve Smith slammed six sixes in his superb century today at North Sydney! #MarshCup pic.twitter.com/QxHlOUnkGM

— cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) February 15, 2021

Pat Cummins is another contender who has emerged as a potential captaincy option for Australia.

The fast-bowler is now the vice-captain in all formats for his country. The 27-year-old is also leading his domestic side New South Wales this season even though they already have Steve Smith in their ranks.

Tim Paine reveals Steve Smith wants to captain Australia

Tim Paine

Australia's Test skipper Tim Paine recently said that Steve Smith still harbours hopes of captaining the national team. The wicketkeeper added that the Australian team is looking to develop leaders in the team.

"There’s no doubt he (Smith) would like to do it, I think, but we’ll just wait and see what happens in the next six to 12 months; one of the things we’re trying to do is develop more leaders in our team, and Steve Smith is certainly one of those," Paine told SEN radio.

It remains to be seen whether Cricket Australia will consider reinstating Steve Smith as the captain of the team after what transpired in South Africa in 2018.