Cape Town, Oct. 24 -- Former South Africa captain Faf du Plessis has recalled how he reached out to Australian cricketer Steve Smith during the 2018 Cape Town ball-tampering controversy, saying he empathised with his rival after facing a similar situation himself two years earlier, according to Cricinfo.

During Australia's 2018 tour of South Africa, then captain Steve Smith, vice-captain David Warner and batter Cameron Bancroft were found guilty in a major ball-tampering controversy. Cricket Australia stripped Smith of the captaincy and banned him and Warner for one year, while Bancroft received a nine-month ban.

Speaking on Cricinfo's Cricketers on Cricketers, du Plessis recalled Smith's response to the controversy surrounding him in 2...