New Delhi: The BCCI has barred Australian captain Steve Smith and David Warner from playing in IPL 2018.
Earlier in the day, Warner had stepped down as the captain of SunRisers Hyderabad a day after Cricket Australia (CA) announced that it has found him, skipper Steve Smith, and Cameron Bancroft guilty in the ball-tampering scandal, and suspended the trio for the fourth Test in Johannesburg, beginning Friday.
Smith and Warner have also been suspended by Cricket Australia for 12 months and Cameron Bancroft for nine months over the ball-tampering scandal in South Africa.
Warner, along with Australian skipper Steve Smith and opener Cameron Bancroft, was in the line of fire due to the scandal that broke out during the third Test against South Africa in Cape Town.
Bancroft was caught on camera using a sandpaper to tamper the ball and Smith later admitted that the opener was executing a plan put together by the team’s leadership group.
The trio was ordered to return home by Cricket Australia after a preliminary inquiry, which surprisingly cleared coach Darren Lehmann of any involvement.
The 31-year-old Warner also reportedly irked the entire Australian dressing room by partying after the scandal.
The latest episode continues the fall from grace for Warner, who was earlier caught on camera having an aggressive verbal duel with South African wicketkeeper Quinton de Kock during the second Test.
Warner was seen being physically restrained by his teammates in the footage that went viral on social media and invited a fine from the ICC.
Earlier, Smith had also stepped down as captain of another IPL franchise, Rajasthan Royals, due to the incident, for which he was banned for one Test by the ICC.
Smith was replaced by Ajinkya Rahane as RR skipper.
Warner on Wednesday stepped down as the captain of SunRisers Hyderabad.
“In light of recent events, David Warner has stepped down as captain of SunRisers Hyderabad. The new captain of the Team will be announced shortly,” K Shanmugam, CEO, SunRisers Hyderabad announced.
