Former Indian pacer Ashish Nehra has claimed that losing both Steven Smith and David Warner would be bad for the Indian Premier League, following the uproar the former’s confession to ball-tampering made.

Ashish Nehra believes that while the leadership group were wrong in doing such a thing, this isn’t the first time that such a thing happened. The former left-handed pacer also seemed content with Steve Smith’s decision to admit to his crimes and stated that it would be bad for the IPL to lose them.

“I know what they did was wrong. But if we think that this is the first time that ball tampering is happening, then that is also wrong. But the best part is they admitted their mistake and ICC has sanctioned them.

“Obviously, we don’t know what Cricket Australia will do but if they don’t play, it will be a huge setback for Rajasthan Royals and Sunrisers Hyderabad. They are quality players and it will be sad if they miss out on IPL,” Nehra told reporters on Monday.

The art of reverse swinging the ball is perhaps the most difficult one to master. When Nehra was asked whether bowlers should get a bit of leeway when it comes to reverse swinging, he agreed but not without an apt analogy.  

“Yes, it’s an art but then stealing is also an art. Would you put a thief in jail or praise him. Reverse swing is an art but ball tampering is dishonesty. And there are ways to prepare a ball for reverse swing without tampering.”

He then went to explain the conditions which influence the ball to swing like the movement of a snake.

“Also this is a phenomena, you will find mainly in Test cricket as in T20 and ODIs, it’s difficult to reverse the white ball. In ODIs, two new white balls are used, so chances are really less. It’s only in Test cricket which is played for a considerable amount of time that teams want their bowlers to try reverse swing.

“Now conditions also play a huge role in reverse swing. If conditions are dry and pitch abrasive, the ball will in any case reverse. For example at the Feroz Shah Kotla, even a Ranji team will get the SG Test to reverse within 10 overs,” Nehra explained.

When asked whether Smith and Warner were different from the previous generations, he said: “Smith and Warner are typical Aussie players. I find no difference with earlier generations. Australians compete hard and these two are no exception,” Nehra said.