Rohan Mustafa has the utmost respect for Steve Smith after the UAE captain was drafted into the same team as the exiled Australian captain for the upcoming Global T20 Canada tournament.
Mustafa will line up alongside Smith for Toronto Nationals in the inaugural competition, which begins on June 28, in what will be the batsman’s first appearance since the ball-tampering scandal.
Smith, 29, was handed a 12-month ban along with Australia vice-captain David Warner, who will also feature in Canada, for their role in the incident carried out by Cameron Bancroft in the third Test against South Africa in March.
Mustafa insists he never lost respect for a player he regards highly and is looking forward to sharing the same dressing room as the 2015 World Cup winner.
“He’s one of the best players I have ever seen in my life,” the all-rounder said. “He’s one of the best Test players and is a World Cup winner and to be playing alongside him is a very good opportunity for me. I’m very happy to be calling him a team-mate. I’ve played against him at the World Cup in Australia and New Zealand and have a lot of respect for him.”
Smith and Warner will be eligible to play for Australia in March following their suspensions, which apply to international and state cricket. Bancroft, who received a lighter ban, will be available for selection in early 2019.
Mustafa admits the punishments handed out were harsh but believes their international careers are not over.
“I think Smith, David Warner and Cameron Bancroft should come back and play international cricket,” he said. “It was a very big ban which I think is a little bit unfair. I think they should have been banned for one or two Tests but not nine or 12 months.
Utmost respect for Smith: Rohan Mustafa.
“If people continue to criticise it’s not a good thing. There have been players that have been punished before for ball-tampering but not for this long.”
Two-time World Cup-winning skipper Darren Sammy and Keiron Pollard are among the other stars in Toronto’s squad, which also features UAE international team-mate Mohammad Naveed.
It will be the most high-profile franchise-based T20 tournament that Mustafa will play in after missing out in the PSL draft previously.
He had played in Nepal and the T10 League before but believes the Canada event will be great learning curve.
“It’s a great achievement to play alongside SSmith, Sammy and other international stars,” he said. “It will be a great opportunity to learn from them and we will learn a lot of things of that which will help us a lot.
“Smith and Sammy will give ideas and it will be great to learn how to deal with the pressure, how they build the innings and these are new things that I can apply to my game.”
