The cricketing world went berserk about the ball-tampering saga and demanded maximum punishment for the disgraced trio of Australia. The infamous ball-tampering scandal resulted in the Aussie captain Steve Smith and his deputy David Warner getting stripped of their leadership and also being handed a year-long ban while Cameron Bancroft received a nine-month ban as well.

While the rest of the cricket enthusiasts are debating whether the punishment given to the convicted players are enough or not, India batsman Gautam Gambhir seems to have a different take on this matter.

Besides feeling sorry for the Smith who broke down in tears in a press conference on Thursday, the left-handed batsman also raised questions whether Smith and Warner paid the price for revolting against Cricket Australia on pay hike issue. Gambhir felt that Smith and Warner being the primary voices during the senior team's pay hike dispute with the establishment, might have played a role in their ouster.

While cricket needs to be corruption-free but feel sanctions on Aussies bit harsh. Are @stevesmith49 & @davidwarner31 paying for revolt for pay hike? History has it administrators deride those who standup for players’ cause. Classic case: Ian Chappell #BallTampering #StevenSmith

— Gautam Gambhir (@GautamGambhir) March 29, 2018

Gambhir is also among the ones who think the punishment for these players is a rather harsh one. In his opinion, Smith can't be termed a cheat and he would rather call him a "desperate leader" trying to win a Test match although the Australian’s method is questionable.

I may be getting emotional but @stevesmith49 doesn’t look to me a cheat. Don’t know about u but I see in him a desperate leader trying to win a Test match for his country, his team. Yes, indeed, his methods were questionable but let’s not label him corrupt #BallTamperingScandal pic.twitter.com/xOxAM45QXM