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What Steve Smith did is not cheating: Sourav Ganguly

Smith and Cameron had announced that they will not challenge the sanctions of CA.

What Steve Smith did is not cheating: Sourav Ganguly

Sourav Ganguly (Photo: Facebook)

Former Indian cricket captain Sourav Ganguly believes that ball-tampering is not cheating as he came out in defence of former Australian captain Steven Smith.

“I sympathise with Steve Smith, he is a fantastic player and hopefully he will come back and keep scoring runs for Australia. Because I don’t think it’s cheating, actually I don’t believe it is cheating,” Ganguly said after launching his book titled ‘A Century is Not Enough’i in Mumbai. Cricketing legend Sachin Tendulkar, and Mumbai Indian’s Rohit Sharma were also present on the occasion.

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Earlier, in the wake of the ball-tampering scandal, Steve Smith and David Warner were banned for a year by Cricket Australia. Young cricketer Cameron Bancroft, who allegedly was given the task of tampering the ball, was given a nine-month ban by the Cricket Australia (CA).

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“I just wish them (Smith, Warner and Bancroft) luck and hopefully they come back and play well. It’s not right to call it cheating, and I wish them luck, and come back and (play) well,” an outspoken Ganguly told reporters.

On Wednesday, Steven Smith and Cameron Bancroft had announced their decision not to challenge the sanctions of CA.

Smith had tweeted: “I would give anything to have this behind me and be back representing my country. But I meant what I said about taking full responsibility as Captain of the team. I won’t be challenging the sanctions. They’ve been imposed by CA to send a strong message and I have accepted them.”

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