Published: Apr 04, 2017, 12:34 PM (IST)
Edited: Apr 06, 2017, 05:37 PM (IST)
There is a reason Indian Premier League (IPL) has more followers than any other domestic spectacle. From the ball soaring over the boundary line to stumps being uprooted with peach of a yorker to one-handed catches, it also offers entertainment off the field. And Steven Smith, the captain of Rising Pune Supergiant (RPS), added more material to the IPL buzz. He recorded a video for the RPS fans in local language. Speaking in Marathi, he requested the Punekars to support their home team. However, this was not the first time we saw a foreigner speak in a local language. Commentator Danny Morrison is often seen twisting his tongue while speaking in Hindi.
Wearing traditional Puneri attire, Smiths says, “Come on, Punekars. Aaplya team la support kara.” However, what interesting is to know as to who taught Smith the language. Given Ajinkya Rahane’s mother tongue is Marathi, did he give a few lessons to his captain? For that matter, Smith had also shared a photo on Instagram with Rahane, resembling Bal Gangadhar Tilak’s attire — the first leader of Indian Independence Movement.
Steve Smith emotional connect with Puneitesand that too in Local language Marathipic.twitter.com/EEd7nZhf7Z
— Sunandan Lele (@sunandanlele) April 4, 2017
RPS were in news as soon IPL 2017 auctions were done. After buying Ben Stokes for a whopping INR 14.5 crores, they dropped an ‘s’ from the name, that is, Supergiant from Supergiants (perhaps it is an astrological take). However, this was not it. They replaced MS Dhoni with Steven Smith as the captain of side, citing their poor performance in IPL 2016.
Given this will be their last edition, Smith and co. will leave no stone unturned to lift the coveted trophy.
