Monday 26 March 2018

IPL 2018 - Ajinkya Rahane - The New Rajasthan Royals Captain



Ajinkya Madhukar Rahane is an Indian cricketer who is the vice-captain of the India national team in Test format. He is a right-handed batsman and Now, Ajinkya Rahane to lead Rajasthan Royals in the upcoming IPL season.

Rajasthan Royals confirmed that Steve Smith has stepped down as captain and Ajinkya Rahane will replace Steve Smith as captain of the Rajasthan Royals ahead of the Indian Premier League 2018.

Smith was a part of the Rajasthan Royals in 2014 and 2015 and was the only player retained by the franchise in 2018.

Smith fronted the press, and in the most stunning revelation, admitted to cheating in an explosive press conference but the former refused to step down as captain.

Smith said, It was a pre-planned move concocted by the Australian leadership group over lunch. I'm not proud of what's happened. It's not within the spirit of the game. My integrity, the team's integrity, the leadership group's integrity has come into question and rightly so.

There have been calls for Smith to step down or be sacked as Australia skipper after he admitted to being the mastermind of the ball-tampering saga.
ICC, fined Smith's 100 percent match fee and handed him a one-Test ban for ball-tampering incident.

Rajasthan’s head of cricket, Zubin Bharucha, said, The incident in Cape Town has certainly disturbed the cricket world.

Speaking at the announcement of the new captain, Bharucha added, “Ajinkya Rahane has been an integral part of the Royals family for a long time now and he understands the culture and values of our team. We have absolutely no doubt that he will be a great leader of the Rajasthan Royals.”


Welcoming Rahane as the Captain of the team, Ranjit Barthakur, Executive Chairman, Rajasthan Royals, said, “Ajinkya Rahane has stepped up as a leader whenever he has been given the opportunity, be it for Team India or at Rajasthan Royals. We consider him the right candidate to lead the side this crucial season when the team is coming back to the IPL after two years. We wish him all the best.”

Rahane started his IPL career with Mumbai Indians in 2008 but played for the Royals from 2011 to 2015 until the franchise was suspended for two seasons by the BCCI. Rahane is the second most successful batsman for the Jaipur-based franchise after Shane Watson. Rahane emerged as the leading run-scorer for the Royals in that season due to his exploits with the bat.

India's Test vice-captain Rahane is also saleable as a brand -- a must for all IPL franchises.

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