Rajasthan Royals (RR) skipper Steve Smith reckons that Ben Stokes’ willingness of proving his worth in tough situations makes him a player that every skipper wants in his team. While Smith is sincerely hoping that Stokes doesn’t play at his ferocious best during Australia’s limited-overs series in England, he wouldn’t mind one bit if Stokes saves his best for the IPL in the UAE.
During a chat with PTI during the screening three-part docu-series, Inside Story: A Season with Rajasthan Royals, Smith said, “It will be great to be able to play some competitive cricket against a quality England side which has few of my Royals teammates (Jofra Archer, Ben Stokes, and Jos Buttler). Hope they don’t score too many runs or take too many wickets and can save that for the IPL.”
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The series has been produced by Red Bull Media House and would be aired on Jio TV and Jio Cinemas. Smith also showered praises on the all-rounder who has been enjoying a purple patch in across formats in the past year. Australia will resume their international calendar with a limited-overs series against England and Smith said that nothing better than getting back to the field after nearly seven months.
On a different note, Smith also went on to acknowledge that staying in a bio-secure environment away from “loved ones” for extended periods is difficult. The IPL is expected to start from September 19 in the UAE and all teams will have to follow the protocols of a bio-secure environment which might force cricketers to be away from wives and partners for more than two months.
Talking about the same, Smith said, “It will be difficult for anyone to be away from their loved ones for extended periods of time but you kind of get used to it playing international cricket, quite often staying apart for long times and trying to make it work.”
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Smith reckons that getting acclimatize with conditions in the UAE will be key but he believes that it will be pretty similar to India. However, he expressed disappointment that IPL is not happening in India but lauded the BCCI for being able to arrange a tournament of this magnitude in an overseas country.
Talking about the same, Steve Smith said, “Obviously we would have loved to have played in India. Amazing what’s going behind the scenes to give everyone a chance to play.”
