Cricket news round-up – April 21: Captain Smith finds his mojo

Steve Smith returned as captain to lead Rajasthan Royals to their third victory in IPL 2019 against Mumbai Indians. Delhi Capitals topped Kings XI Punjab elsewhere, while Imad Wasim claims he is up to the task of filling the gap of big-hitters in the Pakistan line-up.

Smith replaces Rahane as Rajasthan Royals captain

Ajinkya Rahane was sacked as captain of Rajasthan Royals on Saturday. Steve Smith, the former Australia captain, was handed the reins as the Royals attempted to spark a turnaround in form.

Royal won two of their first eight matches, prompting the Royals management to make the call, even though Rahane had led the side to the play-offs last year.

“Ajinkya Rahane did a fantastic job in leading the team to the playoffs last year, however, the franchisee now thinks a fresh approach is needed to bring their 2019 campaign back on track,” the Rajasthan Royals statement read.

“Steve has always been part of the leadership team within RR and Rahane will continue to be a key voice in the side. Therefore, the Royals see this as a small restructuring process to secure the results required to move up the table.”

Smith returns as captain to lead Rajasthan to victory

Steve Smith marked his comeback to the captaincy role with an unbeaten 59 that helped Rajasthan to a five-wicket win over Mumbai Indians.

Smith’s 48-ball knock and young Riyan Parag’s 29-ball 43 helped Rajasthan reach their 162-run target with five balls to spare.

Mumbai had rode Quinton de Kock’s 47-ball 65, but their middle order failed to kick on, with Shreyas Gopal returning 2/21.

Victory wasn’t enough to move Rajasthan up the table – they are still at No.7, but are just two points below Kolkata Knight Riders at No.6.

Iyer, Dhawan star as Delhi see off Punjab

Delhi Capitals finally won a match at home after Shreyas Iyer and Shikhar Dhawan scored half-centuries to topple Kings XI Punjab’s 164-run target.

Punjab had posted 163/7, but that was largely down to Chris Gayle’s 37-ball 69. The rest of the batsmen largely struggled, with Kagiso Rabada and Sandeep Lamichhane picking five wickets between them.

Delhi then saw through the chase with two balls to spare, but they were never really troubled. Victory meant they steer two clear of Punjab at No.3 in the table. Punjab are at No.4.

Imad Wasim wants to be Pakistan big-hitter

The dearth of big-hitters has been a problem cited by the Pakistan management in the lead-up to the World Cup, but Imad Wasim, the all-rounders, believes he is up to the task.

However, in saying that, he also asked for reasonable expectations. “It depends on what my team asks of me,” Imad told CricBuzz. “But I shouldn’t be compared with Shahid [Afridi] bhai or [Abdul] Razzaq bhai. Those guys are legends which is underscored by a mere look at their records. No guy can just come and be like them.”

“If you are asking me to be a super-sixes-esque power-hitter, I can’t be that,” he chuckled. “When I gauge a power-hitter, I look at the strike rate. For me that is what matters. And, in the recent past my strike rate has gone up.”