Ajinkya Rahane To Captain Rajasthan Royals, Steve Smith Steps Down After Ball Tampering

Ajinkya Rahane has so far represented three franchise, Mumbai Indians, Rajasthan Royals and Rising Pune Supergiants

By: Karan Nanda |
March 26, 2018 5:00 pm

India’s Test vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane will lead Rajasthan Royals in the upcoming Indian Premier League season 11 after Steve Smith decided to step down from RR’ captaincy in the wake of the ball-tampering controversy during the third Test against South Africa.

Smith faced the heat from across the globe after his teammate Cameron Bancroft was caught on camera using an object to rub the ball and then seemingly putting it back in his pocket during the third Test match.

Later, Smith and Bancroft accepted to their mistake and apologised for their actions during the press conference.

Later, ICC imposed a one-match ban and fined 100 percent of his Smith’s match fees while Bancroft was fined 75 percent of his match fee and handed three demerit points for breaching Level 2 of the ICC code of conduct.

RR franchise took to their Twitter handle to announce Rahane as their captain. They wrote: “Rajasthan Royals appoint @ajinkyarahane88 as the captain for #IPL2018.”

Rajasthan Royals appoint @ajinkyarahane88 as the captain for #IPL2018

“The game is bigger than any individual and we hold this thought close to our heart.”- Manoj Badale , the co-owner of Rajasthan Royals

Read more: https://t.co/qBQbgUFb2u pic.twitter.com/iy3sMVWlc1

— Rajasthan Royals (@rajasthanroyals) 26 March 2018

Rajasthan Royals’ head of cricket, Zubin Bharucha in his statement said: “The incident in Cape Town has certainly disturbed the cricket world. Steve believes given the current circumstances, ‘it’s in the best interest of the Rajasthan Royals that he steps down as Captain so the team can get ready for the start of the IPL without the ongoing distractions’. He would like to extend his gratitude to the BCCI officials and all the fans in India for their constant support.”

Ajinkya Rahane has been an integral part of the Royals family for a long time. He was a part of RR franchise till the team faced suspension for two years owing to spot-fixing scandal. He is now back with the Royals as they retained their star player for the IPL 11 season.

Rahane has so far represented three franchise, Mumbai Indians, Rajasthan Royals and Rising Pune Supergiants, in India’s own T20 league.

Let’s have a look at Rahane’s stats in IPL so far:

Teams	Matches	Runs	HS	100s	50s
MI, RR, RPS	111	3057	103*	1	25

The IPL 11 will kick-start in Mumbai on April 7 at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.