Rajasthan Royals (RR) have already declared former Australia captain Steve Smith as their captain for the upcoming season. Smith had captained the last edition as well, replacing Ajinkya Rahane mid-way but now he will lead for full-time.

“I am looking forward to this year, hopefully, we can start well and build momentum throughout and hopefully be there in finals,” he told Sportstar.

He further added, “it’s exciting to be back leading the Royals. I have had a few opportunities to lead the Royals throughout and I don’t think I have actually started a year as captain before so I am excited about that. I think we have a really good squad, some quality Indian players, some terrific overseas players and I think we have got a good mix of experience and youth. I am looking forward to this year, hopefully, we can start well and build momentum throughout and hopefully be there in finals.”

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Rajasthan Royals failed to reach playoffs berth the last season by a whisker but this year they have bought a few quality players like David Miller, Andrew Tye, Tom Curran Robin Uthappa and young star Yashasvi Jaiswal. Moreover, they got Rahul Tewatia and Mayank Markande from Delhi Capitals in exchange for Ajinkya Rahane.

“I have heard some terrific things about young (Yashasvi) Jaiswal, we’ve got Robin Uthappa with some experience having played a lot in the IPL. Tom Curran who’s been smashing it in the big bash, I think David Miller has been a proven performer at the IPL, we’ve got Oshane Thomas back who played really well at the back end of last season. So yeah, I think we’ve got a good mix and hopefully, we can give the tournament a shake this year,” Steve Smith concluded.