IPL 2020: “It’s Exciting to be Back Leading the Royals,” Says Steve Smith

Like every other team in the Indian Premier League, the Rajasthan Royals (RR) have also named former Australia captain Steve Smith as their captain for the upcoming season. He had led the team last season too, replacing Ajinkya Rahane mid-way. However, now he will lead the team for full-time.

Smith said he’s looking forward to this year. He hopes they can start well and build the momentum throughout the tournament. He further said that he hoped to reach the final as well.

Steve Smith on the captaincy of Rajasthan Royals

“It’s exciting to be back leading the Royals. 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,” he shared.

Rajasthan Royals failed to reach the playoffs in the last edition by a whisker. Meanwhile, they had a good auction for this year. They bought David Miller, Andrew Tye, Tom Curran. Along with them, they got Rahul Tewatia and Mayank Markande from Delhi Capitals in exchange for Ajinkya Rahane. Moreover, Robin Uthappa and young star Yashasvi Jaiswal will play for Royals this year.

Steve Smith on the team

“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,” he concluded.