Zubin Bharucha, the Head of Cricket Operations of Rajasthan Royals, has confirmed that Steven Smith will be back for the franchise in next year’s IPL.
The news was confirmed by Bharucha to TOI.
Smith, who was appointed as the captain of Rajasthan Royals, will miss the upcoming IPL season as BCCI decided to drop him and David Warner from playing this year’s IPL.
The decision came in wake of the ban which Cricket Australia imposed on these two players for involvement in ‘Sandpaper Gate’.
Earlier, Smith resigned from the captaincy post of Rajasthan Royals and was eligible to play the tournament.
Same was the case with Warner, who resigned from the post of captaincy.
Soon, Cricket Australia banned the two players for one year following which, BCCI decided not to allow these two play in IPL.
Not just Smith, Warner is also expected to make a comeback in next year’s IPL but it is not confirmed whether Sunrisers Hyderabad will retain him or not?
Though, it can be speculated that neither of the two will lead an IPL franchise upon their return.
Smith has been banned from captaincy post for 24 months and no franchise would hand him the captaincy, although he is eligible to lead in IPL.
Warner, who has been banned from captaincy post for life, might not be considered for the same job by any franchise.
Thee two will surely be the players to watch out for in IPL 2019.
Meanwhile, Rajasthan Royals have inked on Henrich Klaasen to replace Smith.
The franchise has established a contact with him.
Only an official announcement is to be made.
Sunrisers Hyderabad are looking at Kusal Perera as Warner’s replacement.
Both the franchises are yet to officially declare the players they will rope in.
SRH have also named a new captain in form of Kane Williamson.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar has been named deputy to him.
The eleventh edition of IPL starts on April 7 with Mumbai Indians taking on Chennai Super Kings in the first game of the season.
Here’s the Newsfeed:
Fans slam Shane Warne for mentioning Sachin Tendulkar’s name in ball tampering scandals
WWE News: Big Announcements for Next Week’s Episode of WWE Raw