'David Warner is too old to captain Australia' - Ian Chappell

The legendary Ian Chappell believes there is little point in lifting explosive opener David Warner's lifetime captaincy ban as he deems that age does not favour the mercurial left-hander. Chappell, 71, views Warner as a good leader if he was tasked with the responsibility at a young age. "If Cricket Australia were to lift the ban on Warner, what's that going to do? You're not going to appoint Warner as captain of any Australian team. He's too old. And he's not going to be given the role because the captain has got to be young enough to lead by example, and those days are gone for David," Chappell told Channel Nine's Wide World of Sports.

The former Australian captain regards Warner desired his captaincy ban to be lifted as he tried to lead his Big Bash League (BBL) team, Sydney Thunder. "I think David probably wanted the leadership for his BBL team so that he could help them. He would have been an outstanding leader for them. He thinks very aggressively about the game. He would be good at whatever leadership position he had," Chappell said.

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Warner was handed a lifetime captaincy ban for his role in the infamous 2018 ball-tampering scandal during the Cape Town Test, also known as 'Sandpapergate'. Chappell also lashed out at Cricket Australia (CA) for handling the issue, blaming the board for "protecting its own backside".

"They (CA) look after themselves. They don't look after the player. This [Warner tale] is another example of Cricket Australia needing improvement. It has been mishandled. My point is that Cricket Australia will never do anything in the interest of the players or the player; they will only ever do anything to protect their backside," concluded Chappel.

(With inputs from PTI)