Rajasthan release Steve Smith ahead of auction, franchise to have new skipper for IPL 2021

Ahead of the mini-auction for the IPL 2021 slated to be held in February, Rajasthan has let go of their captain Steve Smith after a series of poor performances in the previous edition. Champions of the inaugural IPL edition, Rajasthan finished with a wooden spoon in IPL 2020. The ouster of Steve Smith from Rajasthan means that the franchise will have a new captain for the upcoming edition of the IPL. 

While Smith played all 14 matches in UAE, he managed to score only 311 runs at a strike rate of 131, with impressive performances in the first two games of the league stage. With the likes of Sanju Samson, Ajinkya Rahane, Jos Buttler and star English all-rounder Ben Stokes in the fray, it remains to be seen whom the management chooses to lead the side in the upcoming edition, provided they are all retained. 

"Yes, Smith has been released. It went down to the wire, to be honest. We had discussions on the matter and the call was taken today itself," ANI sources said while confirming the ouster. 

Rajasthan confirm Smith's release

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CSK retain Raina, Harbhajan let go 

With the mini-auction for the IPL 2021 inching closer, the Chennai led by former India skipper MS Dhoni has decided to retain Suresh Raina. As per ANI sources, Chennai has decided to retain the former India batsman along with star players Faf du Plessis and Dwayne Bravo. The development comes as the franchises face the deadline heat of January 20 to submit their list of retained players ahead of the mini-auction.

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Meanwhile, ANI sources have also informed that the decision on retention of Kedar Jadhav, Piyush Chawla and Murali Vijay is impending and a final call will be taken before submitting the list to BCCI at 5 PM on Wednesday. The trio has failed to impress with their performances in the previous editions of the IPL. Earlier in the day, veteran India spinner Harbhajan Singh also bid adieu to the franchise as his contract expired, affirming that he had not been retained for the upcoming edition. The three-time champions will also miss the services of Australian all-rounder Shane Watson, who announced his retirement after the IPL 2020 in UAE. 

It is learnt that the governing council has decided to wait for a month before finalising whether the IPL-14 will be held in India or not. "The BCCI will wait for a month to see how the COVID-19 situation is in India before finalising the schedule. Everyone wants it to be held in India but we still need to wait for some more time before taking a call," a BCCI source had told PTI earlier.

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(With ANI Inputs)