3 possible replacements for Steve Smith as Australia's ODI captain

Following the ball-tampering saga that has shocked cricket fans across the globe, the International Cricket Council (ICC) decided to give a 12-month ban to Australian captain Steve Smith and vice-captain David Warner. Besides, Smith has also been suspended from captaining Australia for at least the next two years.

As a punishment, they will also serve 100 hours of "voluntary service in community cricket". As for the on-going series against South Africa, Tim Paine has been named as the captaincy replacement for Smith.

But the permanent captains for all three formats are yet to be decided. Here are 3 who can take up the responsibility in ODIs.

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#3 Glenn Maxwell

Maxwell has been a good limited-overs performer

Glenn Maxwell has been called in as one of the replacements for Smith and Warner in the on-going Test series against South Africa. After last playing a Test against Bangladesh in 2017, he was left out of the Ashes series, but he made the most of his absence from the national set-up, scoring runs in abundance in the JLT Sheffield Shield season.

Maxwell amassed 590 runs, including a 278 in Sydney, in only the first half of the season, before leaving for the BBL.

The all-rounder has played 81 ODIs for Australia, amassing 2069 runs at an impressive strike rate of 123.08, while also picking up 45 wickets. Last IPL season, as the captain of the Kings XI Punjab, the big-hitter scored 310 runs at an explosive strike-rate of 173.18.

#2 Mitchell Marsh

Marsh has played 53 ODIs for Australia

The younger of the Marsh brothers, Mitchell Marsh was out of cricket for a large part of 2017 due to an injury. But upon his return in November, he captained Western Australia to the title in the JLT Cup. The 26-year-old all-rounder has churned out consistent performances for Australia in all the three formats.

In ODIs specifically, Marsh has 1428 runs and 44 wickets from 53 games. Marsh had been touted as the next big thing Down Under ever since he captained the Australia Under-19s to victory in the 2010 World Cup in New Zealand.

#1 Aaron Finch

Finch has played 88 ODIs for Australia

Captain of Victoria in Australian domestic cricket and of Melbourne Renegades in Big Bash League, Aaron Finch makes a cut as one of the captaincy candidates for Australia’s ODI team. The hard-hitting batsman has previously also captained the national side in T20Is and the Pune Warriors in the Indian Premier League.

With 3200 runs in 88 ODIs, at an average of 38.55 and strike rate of 90.00, the right-hander's performances are also not questionable. The top-order batsman has been playing international cricket for six years, and his experience can be crucial to the Australian team if the management decides to give him a nod ahead of other possible candidates.