Ashish Nehra backs Smith, Warner to play IPL

New Delhi, March 26 (CRICKETNMORE) - Reacting to the recent ball-tampering controversy in the South Africa-Australia Test series, former Indian pacer Ashish Nehra, while being critical of the incident, felt that banning skipper Steve Smith and his deputy David Warner

On being asked if the franchises should reconsider their decision of sticking with the duo in the aftermath of the controversy, Nehra said: "It will be very sad if any IPL team fails to get their services. Whether they are retained as captains of their respective IPL teams, it's for the franchises to decide, but it will be a big loss to both Rajasthan (Royals) and Sunrisers (Hyderabad) if they lose players of such calibre."

"I don't think they deserve such harsh punishments, whatever happened lets forget and move forward instead. He (Smith) has admitted his mistake and also stepped down as captain of his national team. You can't expect anything more than that," he added.

Smith was handed a one-match suspension and fined 100 percent of his match fee following the ball-tampering incident during the third Test against South Africa.

Nehra, who has joined as the RCB bowling coach, also highlighted that such instances have taken place in the past but urged the new generation cricketers to play within the spirit of the game.

"These kinds of incidents have happened even in the past. Australians always like playing the hard way across generations, but crossing the line isn't a fair thing.