Having started his career as a leg spinner and a tail-ender in international cricket, Steve Smith rode on his consistency to become the number one Test batsman in ICC Rankings. He made his debut against Pakistan in 2010 at the 'Mecca of Cricket' Lord's. It was a disastrous debut for the former Australian skipper as he scored 1 and 12 runs in successive innings, though he was decent with the bowl as he picked up three wickets in second innings while he did not get chance to ball in the first innings. He marked his name in international cricket in 2013 Ashes, where he scored his first Test century at Oval. Despite having an unorthodox batting stance, Smith suddenly started dominating Test cricket as he has the ability to play both fast and spin bowlers. The 2014-2015 series against India was the path-breaking series for the Aussie as he scored four centuries. It was in the same summer when he was appointed as Australia's 45th Test captain in place of injured Michael Clarke. Everything was going right for the right-handed batsman but suddenly life took a U-turn and he got involved in the ball-tampering scandal with his two Australia teammates David Warner and Cameron Bancroft. The scandal, which rocked the cricket world, happened during a Test match against South Africa. Smith and Warner are suspended for One year while the young fast bowler Bancroft is suspended for nine months.
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With six wins in 13 games, Smith's men are poised at the sixth position, tied on points with SRH, KXIP and KKR.
This was second successful run-chase for Rajasthan Royals in back-to-back games with Ben Stokes starring again with a half-century.
Ben Stokes 50, followed by Sanju Samson 48 fire RR to victory over KXIP despite a Gayle storm; RR go level on points with KXIP in battle for play-off berth.
Rajasthan Royals captain Steve Smith has opted to bowl first after winning the toss against KL Rahul-led Kings XI Punjab in Match 50 of IPL 2020; skipper Steve Smith shows faith in Varun Aaron.
Star Australian cricketers including Smith have been in a bio-bubble since August when they toured England before moving to the protected environment of the IPL in September.
Gautam Gambhir has said that Steve Smith has been the "main issue" for Rajasthan Royals in this season.
The English youngster has been the side's leading pacer and is currently the second-highest wicket-taker of the tournament (17 wickets in 12 matches).
Rajasthan rode on a blistering 107 by Stokes and an equally aggressive 54 by Samson to overhaul the 196-run target with 10 balls to spare.
Batting first at the Dubai International Stadium, Royals amassed 154 runs on the back of vital knocks by Sanju Samson (36) and Ben Stokes (30).
SRH skipper David Warner opts to bowl first as he expects dew factor to play a role in second innings, Jason Holder will play his first game of the season.
After Royals spinners stifled Chennai Super Kings to stop them at 125 for five, Buttler came up with an unbeaten 70-run knock off just 48 balls to lead his side to a comfortable seven-wicket IPL win on Monday night.
On Buttler's incredible innings, Smith said that the wicketkeeper-batsman took the pressure off him at the other hand.
With the win, only their fourth in the season after 10 games, Rajasthan take the fifth spot in the points table, pushing Chennai Super Kings once again to the bottom end.
CSK made two changes, but Imran Tahir remains on the sidelines. Josh Hazlewood has been picked as Dwayne Bravo's replacement while Piyush Chawla replaced Sam Curran.
The Royals slumped to another defeat despite being in a favourable position before AB de Villiers whirlwind of an innings took the game away from them.
Returning back to his old spot, AB de Villiers showed the muggles his wizardry once again, smashing 41 off 11 balls in the final four overs to steer Royal Challengers Bangalore to a seven-wicket win against the Royals.
Smith played one of his best innings since the two half-centuries he scored at the start of IPL 2020, to revive the Royals in their Dubai tie against Royal Challengers Bangalore on Saturday.
Rajasthan Royals fell short by 13 runs against Delhi Capitals as the side faced its fifth defeat in IPL 2020.
Delhi only made one change for the evening - Tushar Deshpande will make his debut, replacing Harshal Patel. Rajasthan did not make any changes to their playing XI
The Oz batsman says he is considerably pleased with RR’s bowling against Delhi Capitals on Friday but hopes the batting clicks against SRH on Sunday.
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