Rajasthan Royals is all set to release Steve Smith before IPL 2021 auction. Due to RR’s poor performance in IPL 2020, RR decided to release its captain Steve Smith.
Rajasthan Royals managed to win only 6 matches in the 13th season of IPL and lost 8. Rajasthan also failed to qualify for the playoffs for 3rd consecutive times.
According to a report in ESPN Cricinfo, Steve Smith’s own poor form in the IPL 2020 is also a big reason for this decision.
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Steve Smith was unable to show any significant effect on the team as a captain and now RR wants to move carefully with a new strategy.
Steve Smith’s started the previous season with a blast. He hit 2 consecutive half-centuries in the 1 st half of the tournament. But after that, his form deteriorated. He scored 311 runs in the previous season with an average of 25.91 which included 3 half-centuries.
RR appointed Steve Smith its captain in IPL 2019 after removing Ajinkya Rahane as captain due to his poor performance.
It’s assumed that Sanju Samson can be the next captain for Rajasthan Royals. Sanju Samson was very successful in the previous season for Royals and he scored 375 runs in 13 matches he played for Royals with an average of 28.84 that included 3 half-centuries.
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However, Royals also has 2 experienced senior players in its team Ben Stokes and Jos Buttler but RR is not thinking about any of them as its captain as their availability for the whole season for IPL 2021 is uncertain due to their international duties.
