IPL 2018 | Rajasthan Royals replace Steve Smith with Heinrich Klaasen

Alongside Sunrisers Hyderabad, Rajasthan Royals had to face a huge crisis at the eleventh hour when Cricket Australia decided to hand Steve Smith and David Warner a one-year ban from all formats in international cricket. Smith was the only player the Royals had decided to retain ahead of the mega-auction and had built the team around him.

However, with the IPL scheduled to start on April 7, the Rajasthan-based franchise decided to turn to the Proteas emerging star in haste and had requested BCCI for a replacement last week. BCCI has now approved the request which means that Klaasen will wear the blue of Rajasthan in the upcoming season for the IPL.

“The Rajasthan Royals have picked Heinrich Klaasen as the replacement for Steve Smith. The wicket-keeper batsman was picked for INR 50 lakh from the Registered and Available Player Pool (RAPP) list,” read the BCCI release.

One of the main reasons for choosing an inexperienced Klaasen to take Smith’s place was his ability to play spin bowling, which he had showcased in India’s ODI series against South Africa in February. With India dominating the ODI series, Klaasen was handed the Man of the Match for his impressive unbeaten 43-run knock in his second ODI. 

"Our aim was to get someone who can play spin well because we are pretty sure that spinners will have a big role to play during the IPL. Klaasen is an amazing player of spin. And he has a vast array of shots, which tempted us to go for him. He plays the reverse sweep very well, something that will be quite useful in the IPL," RR head of cricket, Zubin Bharucha had told TOI in an interview.

After Smith had to step down from his captaincy following the sandpaper gate, RR handed it to local favourite Ajinkya Rahane. The new look Royals start their campaign against Sunrisers Hyderabad on April 9.