IPL 2019: Steven Smith to not captain Rajasthan Royals in IPL 2019, say reports

Dixit Bhargav | 06/01/2019
Smith to not captain Rajasthan Royals

Smith to not captain Rajasthan Royals: Banned Australian batsman might not be given the captaincy for IPL 2019.

Banned Australia cricketer Steven Smith, who is currently playing for Comilla Victorians in the Bangladesh Premier League, faces the unfortunate prospect of not leading Rajasthan Royals in the 12th season of the Indian Premier League.

The 29-year old right-hand batsman was bought by Rajasthan Royals before IPL 2018 as a potential candidate to lead the side. However, Smith’s involvement in Ball Tampering saga against South Africa at Cape Town last year saw him getting banned for a year by Cricket Australia and was subsequently not allowed to take part in the IPL.

Smith was expected to lead the Royals this year but even that seems to be under the clouds now. The biggest reason behind the same is Smith’s unavailability for the whole season. With Australia scheduled to play Pakistan in April, Smith will have to be on national duty.

[yuzo_related]

The fact that the Australian players are only allowed to play the IPL till May 2 further means that Smith won’t be available for a major part of the tournament.

It is worth mentioning that Smith will be allowed to play in April this year. Having said that, there have been reports of the tournament starting in the third week of March to make sure that it finishes well ahead of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019. Hence, Smith won’t get to play in the first few matches.

All in all, one can say that Smith will feature in a highly limited number of matches this year, something which won’t help his case as Royals’ captain. He is expected to visit India after the BPL for a camp with his IPL franchise. If reports in Mumbai Mirror are to be believed, the final decision regarding the same will be taken during the camp.

Read some of the latest Twitter reactions on Smith below:

 

Post Edited By: Dixit Bhargav
ipl 2019 rajasthan royals Steven Smith

About the author

Dixit Bhargav

Born and brought up in Pathankot, Dixit Bhargav is an engineering and sports management graduate who works as a Cricket Editor at The SportsRush. Having written more than 10,000 articles across more than five years at TSR, his first cricketing memory dates back to 2002 when former India captain Sourav Ganguly had waved his jersey at the historic Lord’s balcony. What followed for an 8-year-old was an instant adulation for both Ganguly and the sport. The optimist in him is waiting for the day when Punjab Kings will win their maiden Indian Premier League title. When not watching cricket, he is mostly found in a cinema hall watching a Punjabi movie.

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