Proteas will treat Warner, Smith ‘fairly’
USMAN Khawaja doesn’t expect the Proteas to sledge his Australian teammates David Warner and Steve Smith in their World Cup clash at Old Trafford on Saturday.
Warner and Smith will be facing South Africa for the first time since returning from their 12-month bans stemming from the ball-tampering scandal that erupted during the third Test at Newlands last year. Both were senior leadership members of the Australian team – Smith was captain and Warner his deputy – before plunging the nation’s No 1 summer sport into crisis mode back home when it was revealed that they had formulated a plan, using young opener Cameron Bancroft, to bring sandpaper on the field and tamper with the ball.
Bancroft was caught red-handed by the television cameras and also received a nine-month ban. The 26-year-old has not played for Australia since. The ball-tampering saga was the climax of an ill-tempered Test series between the two fierce rivals. Six players from both teams were sanctioned by ICC Match Referee Jeff Crowe during the series, with the initial flare-up being an ugly verbal altercation between Warner and Quinton de Kock on a Kingsmead staircase during the first Test.
The drama continued through to Port Elizabeth where Proteas speedster Kagiso Rabada brushed Smith’s shoulder during the second Test. Rabada was found guilty of a Level 2 ICC Code of Conduct offence. Despite all that has transpired, Khawaja, who is good friends with Hashim Amla and Imran Tahir in the Proteas team, doesn’t believe the emotions will boil over when Smith and Warner come face-to-face with their arch nemesis.
“The South African guys are pretty good blokes. I know them for a long time. I think they will treat them fairly,” Khawaja said.
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