Mumbai: Actor Varun Dhawan has lent support to Australian skipper Steven Smith over the ball-tampering controversy and hopes that fans will "forgive" him for his actions.

Smith, along with vice-captain David Warner, has been banned for a year for ball-tampering during the third Test against South Africa in Cape Town. Cameron Bancroft, who was caught on camera trying to tamper the ball with a sandpaper, has been banned for nine months.

Yesterday, a teary-eyed Smith made an appearance in front of Australian media after he reached Sydney, and said he regretted his actions.

Varun took to Twitter and wrote, "Watching Steven Smith apologise and look broken is very sad. I'm sure the fans will forgive him." 

"He looks beyond remorseful I hope and pray he will come out of this ordeal a better cricketer. The mental, the emotional trauma, I'm sure is bigger then any ban," he added.

On the work front, the actor will be next seen in Shoojit Sircar's "October", which also stars debutante Banita Sandhu.