Steve Smith thinks batting with Jos Buttler will make things easier for him in IPL 2019

Former Australia captain Steve Smith is just days away from the end of his year-long ban. The 29-year-old played a lot of franchise cricket over the last one year and now, after a brief stint with an elbow injury, the dashing batsman is getting ready for playing in the Indian Premier League (IPL) kicking off on March 23. Smith, who led his side Rising Pune Supergiant in the final of the 2017 edition, was supposed to captain Rajasthan Royals (RR) last year but missed the tournament because of the ban and now, the RR supporters are all set to witness the talented batsman’s remarkable exploits.

The Aussie who joined the RR camp on Monday, in fact, is looking to bat with England wicketkeeper-batsman Jos Buttler in the tournament. The big-hitting Englishman had hit five consecutive fifties in the IPL last year before returning home for national duty. Smith feels to bat with Buttler at the other end will make things easier for him.

“It’ll be great, makes things easier for me, batting with Jos,” Smith said during a live chat on Royals’ social media platforms, Sport360 reported.

Buttler a destructive batter

“He’s an exciting player and one of the most destructive batters around the world. I’m really excited to play with him.” Later this year, Smith will be playing against the same Buttler as Australia will challenge England in Ashes in the latter’s den. Smith has played 69 matches in the IPL scoring over 1,700 runs at an average of 37 and strike-rate of 131-plus.

David Warner, the former Australia vice-captain who also served the ban that was imposed in connection with the ball-tampering scandal in South Africa last March, is also set to play the IPL and he will be donning the orange kit of Sunrisers Hyderabad. Neither Smith nor Warner has been picked by Australia for their five-ODI series against Pakistan in the UAE starting March 22 and they take the opportunity to hone their skills in the IPL.

“I’ll be hitting as many balls as I can, getting myself into a good rhythm. I started batting a couple of weeks ago back home and I feel like I’m hitting the ball really well,” Smith said.

This will be the first time that Smith will be playing in Jaipur for the RR. He first joined them in 2014 but could not play in front of the home crowd because of the election that year. He then shifted to the Supergiant before controversy stopped him from playing for RR in 2018.

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