Steve Smith on replacing Ajinkya Rahane as RR captain: Owners felt need for change

Steve Smith praised Ajinkya Rahane's leadership qualities in the Indian Premier League after replacing the Indian cricketer as captain of Rajasthan Royals on Saturday, but admitted that the owners of the team wanted a change at the helm after their six defeats in eight matches this season.

The change in captaincy was announced by Rajasthan Royals just minutes before their crucial clash against Mumbai Indians at the Sawai Mansingh stadium in Jaipur.

"Ajinkya has done a terrific job over the last year and a half," Steve Smith said at the time of toss and added, "the owners thought there should be a change in the leadership, and he'll be part of the leadership group as well."

Rajasthan Royals are currently placed at seventh in the points table, having picked mere four points from eight matches. Only Royal Challengers Bangalore, having played a game more than Royals, have fared worse than the Men in Pink.

Rajasthan Royals' two wins have come against Royal Challengers Bangalore and Mumbai Indians. They last suffered a defeat against Kings XI Punjab, by 12 runs, on Tuesday.

"Ajinkya is and will always be a true Royal. He led the team to the play offs in 2018 in a very challenging scenario and that will go down as one of the great comebacks of the IPL. He remains a key part of our side and leadership team and will extend support wherever required to Steve.

"Steve is one of the most innovative and successful captains in the world, in all formats of the game. We are confident he can lead the Royals to success," said Zubin Bharucha, Head of Cricket for Rajasthan Royals.

In the match against the in-form Mumbai, Steve Smith will be making a comeback as a captain in professional cricket after being sacked as Australia captain last year following the ball-tampering scandal in the Cape Town Test against South Africa.

Smith was barred from the IPL last season due to his involvement in the ball-tampering controversy and was handed a one-year ban from all forms of competitive cricket by Cricket Australia, while also being barred from captaining the side for 24 months.

Smith had earlier succeeded MS Dhoni as captain of Rising Pune Supergiant in 2017 and led the team to the final that season before he rejoined the Royals in 2018 after the franchise's two-year suspension from the IPL got over.