Rajasthan Royals Likely To Release Steve Smith For IPL 2021 After Pitch Scuffing Incident In Sydney: Reports

Australia’s batting mainstay Steve Smith could find himself out of Rajasthan Royals ahead of IPL 2021 auction. It has emerged that Steve Smith landed himself into a controversy for pitch scuffing during day five of the third Test against India in Sydney. Hence, for the same, the Royals could leave out the 31-year old out of their squad.

A video went viral during the drinks break of Steve Smith erasing the guard marked by Rishabh Pant. While the commentators expressed no resentment about the same, fans former cricketers overhyped the incident by lashing out on Smith for adopting unfair tactics. The right-handed batsman has allegedly found himself in yet another controversy after a plethora of other ones.

As per Sports Today, Rajasthan Royals could release their captain ahead of the 2021 season of IPL. The franchises have to submit the list of released and retained players before the 20th of January. Along with Smith, the Royals’ own performances were underwhelming in IPL 2020 as they finished in the bottom of the points table. The skipper managed a little more than 300 runs at an average of 25.

Steve Smith bagged the man of the match award in the third Test against India:

Meanwhile, Steve Smith roared back to form in the third Test in Sydney against India as he struck a century and half-century. Contrary to popular beliefs, the former Australian captain could not be amongst the runs in the first two Tests. However, scores of 131 and 81 signalled that Smith has found his groove.

Unfortunately, those were not enough for Australia to secure a victory in the third Test as India clung on to a miraculous draw on day five. Ravichandran Ashwin, Rishabh Pant, Hanuma Vihari, and Cheteshwar Pujara played an integral role in the same. The fourth and the final Test begins in Brisbane on the 15th of January.

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