With just over two months left for the start of the Indian Premier League 2020, the Rajasthan Royals (RR) have already declared former Australia captain Steve Smith as their leader for the upcoming season.
Smith had captained RR last edition as well, replacing Ajinkya Rahane mid-season, before leaving for World Cup camp. However, now he will be donning the captaincy hat full-time. “I am looking forward to this year, hopefully, we can start well and build momentum throughout and hopefully be there in finals,” he told Sportstar.
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He further said, “it’s exciting to be back leading the Royals. I have had a few opportunities to lead the Royals throughout and I don’t think I have actually started a year as captain before so I am excited about that. I think we have a really good squad, some quality Indian players, some terrific overseas players and I think we have got a good mix of experience and youth. I am looking forward to this year, hopefully, we can start well and build momentum throughout and hopefully be there in finals.”
Rajasthan Royals missed out on a playoffs berth the last edition by a whisker but had a good auction last year. They invested in David Miller, Andrew Tye, Tom Curran, while got Rahul Tewatia and Mayank Markande from Delhi Capitals in exchange for Ajinkya Rahane.
Talking about the change in personnel at the RR camp, with Andrew McDonald becoming the new head coach and inclusion of new players like Robin Uthappa and young star Yashasvi Jaiswal, Smith said, “I have heard some terrific things about young (Yashasvi) Jaiswal, we’ve got Robin Uthappa with some experience having played a lot in the IPL. Tom Curran who’s been smashing it in the big bash, I think David Miller has been a proven performer at the IPL, we’ve got Oshane Thomas back who played really well at the back end of last season. So yeah, I think we’ve got a good mix and hopefully, we can give the tournament a shake this year.”
(sportstar.thehindu.com inputs)
