Rajasthan Royals batsman Steve Smith goofs up when saying he loves to play IPL

One of the two cricketers that Australia banned last year for 12 months in the wake of the sandpapergate scandal – David Warner – made a terrific comeback to the Indian Premier League (IPL) on Sunday. Now, the fans are waiting for the other tainted hero – Steve Smith – to do the same as he is due to appear for Rajasthan Royals (RR) on Monday in their opening clash of this season against Kings XI Punjab in Jaipur.

Both Smith, a former Australia captain, and Warner, a former vice-captain, were handed over the ban following an ugly incident of ball-tampering in a Test match against South Africa in March last year. The two, however, played franchise cricket in between though they missed the IPL last season.

Recently, both players suffered injuries while playing in the Bangladesh Premier League but have joined their respective camps for the IPL that kicked off on Saturday. On Sunday, Warner slammed a 53-ball 85 for Sunrisers Hyderabad against Kolkata Knight Riders at the Eden Gardens although his team eventually lost the match.

Smith will be looking for a strong comeback in IPL

Smith will also be looking forward to make a similar comeback to the IPL and is quite excited to return to the tournament. He was the captain of the Rising Pune Supergiant last time he played in the tournament in 2017 and also took his team to the final only to lose it to Mumbai Indians by a run. He had played for the RR earlier but changed base since the team itself was serving a two-year ban owing to a fixing-related scandal. Finally, Smith and RR have reunited after three years.

The Australian hard-hitting batsman was over-excited with his return to the RR and that was evident when he made a slip of tongue. Recently, speaking during an interview, the 29-year-old said: “I love playing here in the Big Bash (Oops, he corrects), IPL.” The batsman himself burst out into laughter after saying it.

Careful, smudgey! 😂 #IPL2019 pic.twitter.com/Acs9hhuYAx

— Garima Srivastava (@Garima_Wisden) March 23, 2019

Led by Ajinkya Rahane, the RR will be looking to a start on a winning note this IPL. In the three matches played so far, the teams that won are Chennai Super Kings, KKR and Delhi Capitals. However, Ravichandran Ashwin’s KXIP will not be an easy opponent to beat and the match promises to be a cracker.

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