IPL 2018: This player to replace Steve Smith in Rajasthan Royals

After the ball-tampering incident, BCCI banned David Warner and Steve Smith from participating in the 11^th edition of Indian Premier League. Two spots of two franchise Rajasthan Royals and SunRisers Hyderabad went vacant after the BCCI’s decision.

Indian batsman Ajinkya Rahane has been given the responsibility to lead Rajasthan Royals while Kane Williamson to lead SunRisers Hyderabad.

The decision to fill up Smith’s spot in the team was difficult for the selectors of Rajasthan Royals. There were rumours that the spot can be filled by Hashim Amla and Joe Root. But, after taking several things into consideration, the head of RR finally made his decision and end up selecting Heinrich Klaasen.

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In a talk with a leading daily, Zubin Bharucha – Rajasthan Royals head said, "Our aim was to get someone who can play spin well because we are pretty sure that spinners will have a big role to play during the IPL’’.

"Klaasen is an amazing player of spin. And he has a vast array of shots, which tempted us to go for him. He plays the reverse sweep very well, something that will be quite useful in the IPL’’, he added.

Speaking on Smith being a part of the team in the upcoming editions of the League, Bharucha said, "Smith will be back with us next year and we did not want to end up with two similar players. Our idea was to build the team keeping three years in mind. Even after Smith is back, Klaasen will be very useful for us’’.

Klaasen is a South African wicket-keeper batsman, who made his debut against India in the year 2018.