IPL 2020 | RR is ready, want to get our campaign off to a good start, says a hopeful Steve Smith

After missing the ODI series against England, Steve Smith is now fit and raring to fire on all cylinders for the 2008 IPL winners, Rajasthan Royals, who start their 2020 IPL campaign against the MS Dhoni-led Chennai Super Kings on September 22 in Sharjah. After taking proper rest, the Australia great hit the nets and is hoping to put up a good show for his side in their opening fixture. 

Smith was jubilant with how RR have trained in the last month or so and he felt great reuniting with his old and new teammates. The RR captain reckons that the Jaipur-based franchise have an excellent side and also revealed that he keenly followed how CSK performed in their opening game, which saw them winning quite comfortably against Mumbai Indians on September 19.  

"Yeah obviously missed the last three ODIs in England. Been in Dubai for a couple of days now with some good rest and then got into a bit of running. Yesterday I did a bit of zig-zag running, which is part of the protocols to pass to get back to play and today I'll have a hit in the nets. Hopefully, pull up well from the hit and be good to play tomorrow," Smith was quoted as saying, in the team's media release, reported TOI.

"The guys have been here for a month now, and from all reports, the training's been magnificent. It's been good to catch up with both the old and the new Royals, we're in a good place and have got an outstanding squad this year, really strong, and we're ready to get going. Chennai and Mumbai both have been two solid teams for a long time now. We obviously watched a bit of the game the other night, the Super Kings played really well to get over the line in the end.

"Hopefully, we can put on a good show and get our campaign off to a good start," teve Smith's role will be crucial for RR's batting especially in the absence of Ben Stokes, whose whereabouts aren't the most promising at the moment for the franchise as he is going through rough times in personal life and is accompanying his ailing father in New Zealand. Stokes had earlier missed the limited-overs series against Australia as well."

After taking over captaincy from Rahane mid-way through IPL 2019, Smith was named Rajasthan Royals' full-time captain ahead of IPL 2020.