Steve Smith who is serving a 12-month long ban after sandpaper gate earlier this year, has been banned from the playing into the Bangladesh Premier League 2019. The ban has been imposed by the Bangladeshi Cricket Board and could prove to be another setback for the former Australian captain, who is likely to address the press tomorrow. Smith was signed by the Comilla Victorians as a replacement for Asela Gunaratne. Smith was signed outside the draft which was against the rule and the Bangladesh Cricket Board took a call about the same last night. Bangladesh Premier League 2019 Schedule in PDF: Download BPL 6 Full Timetable With Fixtures, Matches, Team and Venue Details.

“The rule of the tournament is that if a franchise takes a replacement, his name should be in the list of initial players' draft. But Smith's name was not there, “BCB chief Nizamuddin Chowdhury said.”Yes he [Smith] is not available for us. We have received a mail in this regard last night,"Victorian's chief executive Col[retd] AKM Zaki was quoted as saying by Cricbuzz. The tournament is about to start from January 5, 2018.

Meanwhile, Smith after his suspense is likely to hold a presser tomorrow. There could be an update on the star cricketer’s return against India. Smith is currently busy with NSW Premier Cricket for Sutherland, a team he led to the NSW Premier T20 championship title last Sunday. Along with Smith, David Warner too has been serving a 12-month long ban. Both Smith and Warner missed out on the Indian Premier League last year.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Dec 20, 2018 03:28 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).