Why is Ian Chappell furious with Steve Smith?
Former Australian cricketer Ian Chappell is unhappy with Steve Smith of late, especially during the ongoing second Test (Day-Night) against Pakistan in Adelaide. Chappell feels Smith is undermining the captaincy calls made by Tim Paine, as was evident during the field placements made by the latter. He also feels Smith has no right to fiddle with it. Here's more.
Chappell unhappy with Smith messing with Paine's fielding
Talking to Macquarie Sports Radio, Chappell said that he did not like Smith making changes in the field, set by Paine. "He did have a chat with Tim Paine, trying to talk Tim Paine into moving a fielder on the off-side, but I'm not sure Tim Paine moved him as far as Steve Smith wanted," he said, as reported by Fox Sports.
I always felt it's white-anting the captain: Chappell
"Steve Smith started moving him, I hate to see that. England used to do it a bit, blokes other than the captain and I always felt it was white-anting the captain," added Chappell.
Does Smith wants to get back his captaincy?
While Chappell might not take it on a good note, players making field changes along with the captain is not a new phenomenon. However, it is to be noted that Smith was the captain of Australia prior to his suspension last year. Although he still has a captaincy ban for a year, the author feels that Smith could be contemplating getting back his captaincy.
Paine wants Smith to return as Australian captain
"I'm enjoying having the job at the moment... and I certainly hope Steve Smith does captain Australia again one day, and if he does, I'll be fully supportive of it," Paine had said on the same last month to The Daily Telegraph.
The performance of Smith and Paine as Test captains
Considering Smith's record as the Aussie Test skipper, it has been a decent one. He has won 18 out of 34 Test matches, with a win-loss ratio of 1.80. Smith has lost 10 and drawn six Tests as captain. Meanwhile, Paine has won seven Tests as captain out of 16 matches. He has lost six and drawn three.
How did the 2nd Test pan out?
Australia batted first and scored immensely to declare at 589/3. Warner (335*) was the master in batting. He was supported by centurion Marnus Labuschagne (162). The two shared a match-winning 361-run stand for the second wicket. In reply, Pakistan were helped by Babar Azam (97) and Yasir Shah (113) to post 302. Mitchell Starc (6/66) was top notch. Pakistan failed in the second innings.
