3 captaincy options for Rajasthan Royals in case Steve Smith is not available at the start of IPL 2020

RR will miss their Australian and England players due to quarantine rules in IPL 2020.

By Jatin Sharma - 19 Aug, 2020

The Rajasthan Royals (RR) franchise will be looking forward to the upcoming IPL 2020 edition given that they brought some fresh faces in their lineup and are all geared up for the first full IPL in the United Arab Emirates.

RR had named Steve Smith their captain for the IPL 2020, but are now searching for a new captain in his place. This is because Australia and England will be playing a limited-overs series in England that begins on September 4 and ends on September 16.

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The IPL 13 begins on September 19 and the Australian and England players will arrive just before the beginning of the tournament.

However, as per BCCI SOPs for the IPL, they will have to observe six days of quarantine period on arrival in UAE, and only then they can join the team. This leaves the franchise without majority of their foreign players like Steve Smith, Jofra Archer, Ben Stokes, and Jos Buttler.

The team will also search for a new captain for the first few games of the tournament with Smith not being able to play and Team COC has shortlisted three potential candidates for RR captaincy in Smith’s absence.

Check out the 3 captaincy options for Rajasthan Royals in case Steve Smith is not available for the first week

 

DAVID MILLER

David Miller, the South African limited-overs star, was picked up by Royals in IPL 2020 auction after his long-time franchise Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) parted ways with him. Miller has 1850 runs in 79 matches in IPL with 9 fifties and one century at a strike rate of 138.78.

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What qualifies Miller for captaincy role is that he has captained South Africa in two T20Is against Pakistan in 2019 and has led KXIP for the first half of IPL 2016. However, his record as captain isn’t impressive as he won one T20I and lost one against Pakistan.

As KXIP captain, he lost five of their first six games and was replaced mid-tournament by Murali Vijay. However, he has the wealth of experience behind him, something that RR will be lacking for a short period of time when IPL 2020 begins.

 

JAYDEV UNADKAT

Jaydev Unadkat is the logical choice for captaining Rajasthan Royals (RR) for the first few games, given that he led Saurashtra to their maiden Ranji Trophy victory recently and seemingly the RR team management have a lot of faith in him.

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He was bought in the auction for 3 crores by RR despite picking just 22 wickets in the last two seasons of the IPL at a horrendous economy of 10.15. Overall, Unadkat has 77 wickets in 73 IPL matches with a best of 5/25 and has a hat-trick to his name.

The left-arm pacer is also experienced in leadership roles in domestic cricket and RR might want to give him the captaincy based on his success for Saurashtra.

 

ROBIN UTHAPPA The most experienced Indian cricketer in their lineup is Robin Uthappa. He was bought in the IPL 2020 auction for INR 3 crore after Kolkata Knight Riders let him go after he struggled in the IPL 2019.

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Uthappa has played 177 IPL games, making 4411 runs with 24 fifties to his name at an average of 28.83 and a strike rate of 130.50. He is also a brilliant fielder and safe behind the stumps with 84 catches and 32 stumpings. Uthappa was a top contender to become KKR captain in IPL 2018 when Gautam Gambhir moved to Delhi Capitals.

Rajasthan Royals are looking for someone experienced to captain them in interim and who better than Robin Uthappa to take that role until Steve Smith joins the squad. Uthappa has been part of a leadership role in KKR and for his domestic sides Karnataka, Kerala, and Saurashtra.

By Jatin Sharma - 19 Aug, 2020

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