India‘s star batsman Rohit Sharma has stood up for the tainted Australian trio of Steve Smith, David Warner and Cameron Bancroft.

Smith and Warner were handed one-year bans by Cricket Australia after the ball-tampering scandal during the Newlands Test against South Africa, while Bancroft was suspended for nine-months.

Smith had addressed the media on Thursday in what was a tearful press conference, while Warner also issued an apology on his Twitter account.

Later, coach Darren Lehmann stepped down from his position and revealed that the Wanderers Test will be his last as head coach.

Meanwhile, Sharma expressed his feelings about the SandPaperGate saga on social media and came in support of the trio.