Ian Chappell says star batsman Steve Smith might get back the Australia captaincy despite his involvement in the ball-tampering scandal in 2018 if there’s no other choice to replace Tim Paine.

Paine’s performance behind the stumps and his tactics as captain in the just-concluded Test series versus India, have been severely criticised.

Alongside vice-captain Pat Cummins, the 31-year-old Smith could be a frontrunner if Paine is to be replaced as Test skipper as a fallout of the 2-1 loss to India.

“Yeah sure, he (Smith) might get the captaincy again, but I think it’s only going to be in the circumstances where there’s not many other options,” Chappell, who captained Australia from 1971-1975, told Wide World of Sports.

Chappell questioned why Smith is eligible to captain Australia again while David Warner has a lifetime leadership ban. He said Smith’s “crime” in the ball-tampering scandal was greater than that of Warner, his deputy then.

“Why aren’t Smith and Warner in the same category? If Smith only gets a 24-month ban on captaincy, why doesn’t Warner get that only?” Chappell asked. “Or if Warner gets a lifetime ban on captaincy, why doesn’t Smith?”