The Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise, Rajasthan Royals (RR) got a shocking blow ahead of the upcoming season of the IPL as they had retained just one player prior to the auctions and it was Steve Smith, but now he will not be playing for them. Despite the big loss, the team mentor Shane Warne is optimistic about the chances of the Royals in the tournament.

As per the recent reports in Times Now, Warne showed some strong support for the newly appointed skipper Ajinkya Rahane. Warne reckons that Rahane will do a brilliant job in the role and has full trust in him. Furthermore, he thanked the franchise for having him back on the roster this year. Warne conceded that the camp had quality match-winners this season.

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As quoted in PTI, Warne said, “I am happy to be back with the Rajasthan Royals and I am grateful for the great opportunity given to me. It’s like coming back to home. The best squad is put together, and we have the best captain in Ajinkya Rahane whom I fully trust. We have few match winners with the bat and the ball as well. We have great talent at our disposal, and it was wonderful job done at the auction.”

Shane also noted that other nations have used this opportunity to defeat Australia. Adding more to the same note, he believes all of this would go to waste if other nations do not learn from the mistakes of the Australian players. The cricketers have already learned their lesson in a pretty stern way.

Also read: X-Factors In Rajasthan Royals Squad

The RR mentor concluded, “It is very disappointing but I feel that this gave an opportunity to others to slam boot into Australians without any reason. I am not defending what Smith has done and I am also embarrassed as any other Australians with the happenings.’