Reports | Steve Smith not to lead Rajasthan Royals in IPL 2019
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According to reports, Aussie batsman Steve Smith will not be the captain of the Rajasthan Royals side in the upcoming edition of the Indian Premier League this year. While serving a ban after the sandpaper gate, the Aussie skipper missed the 11th edition of the cash-rich league in 2018.Â
After serving his one-year ban following the infamous sandpaper controversy during the Cape Town Test against South Africa, Steve Smith will be back for the Indian Premier League this year. But as per a report of Mumbai Mirror, he will not be the one to take up the leadership duties for the Jaipur-based franchise this year. According to the tabloid, the Indian cricket board will go according to the regulations of Cricket Australia which have asked Smith not to be a captain for the next two years following the infamous incident.Â
Smith will also be an important member for the Australian team for the 50-over World Cup which is scheduled to be played in England this year. This might result in him missing the last few matches of the league in India. The franchise is expected to consider Ajinkya Rahane as the skipper of the team again after he successfully led the team to the playoffs in the previous season.Â
“He’ll have learnt a lot through the episode, treat people as you want to be treated and things will probably work out pretty well. Everyone is happy with redemption so if he shows humility and good grace, scores lots of runs, time will do the rest,” outgoing CEO of Cricket New South Wales, Andrew Jones said about the former skipper.
“He’ll have learnt a lot through the episode, treat people as you want to be treated and things will probably work out pretty well. Everyone is happy with redemption so if he shows humility and good grace, scores lots of runs, time will do the rest.”
Smith is going to arrive in India for a camp of the franchise later this month and it is expected that the decision of captaincy will be taken then. Royals' mentor Shane Warne will have a crucial role to play in this regard much before the start of the tournament in deciding the captaincy role of the team.Â
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