Rajasthan Royals captain Steven Smith is the latest to express hope that the Indian Premier League is played this year.
The start of this year's IPL has been moved from 29 March to 15 April as a preventative measure against the spread of the coronavirus pandemic. It might be subjected to more delays amid strict rules from the Indian government this month.
“There is plenty going on in the world at present, but hopefully we can get an IPL at some stage,” said Smith during a Rajasthan Royals podcast.
“The two seasons that I captained the Royals were both half seasons. Shane Watson gave me the captaincy in 2015 and then last year out of the blue, I took over at the back end of the season. I am looking at having a crack at it full time and the Royals have a pretty good squad.”
The Royals' squad includes plenty of local talent such as batsman Robin Uthappa and Sanju Samson and seamers Jaydev Unadkat and Varun Aaron. England trio Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler and Tom Curran are among the franchise's international stars. They also have South African batsman David Miller and Australian seamer Andrew Tye. West Indian fast bowler Oshane Thomas is also in the Rajasthan squad. Thomas was injured during a motor vehicle accident earlier this year, but has since recovered.
The Royals won the inaugural IPL in 2008. They have not claimed a title since. The Mumbai Indians are the reigning IPL champions, having beaten the Chennai Super Kings in last year's final. Mumbai have won the IPL four times. This is the most by any franchise. Chennai have own the IPL on three occasions. The Kolkata Knight Riders have clinched the title twice.
Smith in Test cricket
Australian batsman Smith, too, shared ambition to win a Test series in India during the podcast. The Australians have not won a Test series in India since 2005.
“As an Australian cricketer. But now India is the number one team in the world, it's a very difficult place to play Test cricket, so I'd love to be able to win a series there,” he added.
