IPL 2019: Steven Smith, David Warner To Miss the First Week of Tournament
Mar 16, 2019 at 1:42 PM
Former Australia skipper Steven Smith and his deputy David Warner are set to miss the first week of the Indian Premier League 2019. Smith will ply on his trade for Rajasthan Royals whereas David Warner will join back his Sunrisers Hyderabad teammates. However, both of them will arrive in India when the IPL 2019 would already be in its first week.
In fact, David Warner and Steven Smith will join the Australian squad for the last two matches against Pakistan in the UAE. However, they will not play for the Australian team but they will spend some time with their teammates. Furthermore, their ball-tampering ban will be lifted on 29th March.
Smith and Warner will miss the initial stage of the tournament.
Australia will play a five-match bilateral series against Pakistan in the UAE. The first ODI will take place on 22nd March at Sharjah. The final and fifth match between the two teams will take place on 31st March in Dubai. Thus, both Smith and Warner will miss the first week of the IPL 2019.
Meanwhile, Steven Smith and David Warner will like to hit the ground running in the IPL. Smith and Warner are going to play a key role in Australia’s World Cup defence. They are one of the best batsmen in the world and it is crucial that they play at their best in the World Cup.
In fact, both Smith and Warner will know that the performance in the Indian Premier League will serve as the ticket for the World Cup. Consequently, they will like to impress with their performances.
David Warner has savoured great success while leading Sunrisers Hyderabad and he would like to come up with the solid performance in the 12th edition of the league.
Warner had also led the franchise to glory in IPL 2016. On the other hand, Steven Smith will aim to be at his best. In fact, both players had suffered an elbow injury and they would be making a comeback to competitive cricket after a gap of one year due to the ball-tampering ban.