Rajasthan Royals appointed Steven Smith as their captain for Indian Premier League (IPL) 2018. Smith led the now defunct Rising Pune Supergiant (RPS) in the IPL 2017 and the side finished runners-up. Smith scored a gritty fifty in the tournament final but fell in the final over to hand Mumbai Indians (MI) their third title.
The Australian skipper was appointed the RR skipper in middle of the 2015 season, the last time the Royals participated in the tournament. He replaced Shane Watson halfway through the tournament. Smith had also stepped in as stand-in skipper for Sourav Ganguly in the 2012 edition for Pune Warriors India. RR unveiled their skipper on live television.
Considered one of the best batters in the world, Smith’s leadership skills has been widely praised since his young days and therefore the 28-year-old was a favourite for the position.
Earlier, mentor Shane Warne had implied that alongside Smith, Ajinkya Rahane, Ben Stokes and Jos Buttler were also contenders for captaincy. It was under Warne, the Royals lifted the inaugural IPL trophy in 2008.
RR were suspended in 2015 for their officials involvement in corruption. They missed the leagues in 2016 and 2018 editions, alongside Chennai Super Kings (CSK).
RR will open their IPL 2018 campaign against Sunrisers Hyderabad on April 9 at Hyderabad. To their glee, after a lot of controversies, they will finally to get to play their seven home games at Jaipur.
Rajasthan Royals squad
Steven Smith (c), Jos Buttler (wk), Ankit Sharma, Anureet Singh, Jofra Archer, Stuart Binny, Aryaman Birla, Dushmanta Chameera, Prashant Chopra, Shreyas Gopal, Krishnappa Gowtham, Dhawal Kulkarni, Ben Laughlin, Mahipal Lomror, Sudhesan Midhun, Ajinkya Rahane, Sanju Samson, Jatin Saxena, D’Arcy Short, Ben Stokes, Rahul Tripathi, Jaydev Unadkat, Zahir Khan.
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