Rajasthan Royals could release Steve Smith ahead of the IPL 2021 auctions. While a few reports say that this is because of his lacklustre form in the last edition of the IPL 2020 where he failed to make an impact, the others say that this decision has been taken after the scuffing incident which happened during India vs Australia 4th Test 2021. Talking about the performance of the Rajasthan Royals in IPL 2020, the team was placed at the bottom of the table losing eight games out of 14. The team managed to win only six matches. Steve Smith Allegedly Scruffs Out Rishabh Pant’s Guard During IND vs AUS 3rd Test at SCG, Virender Sehwag and Others Slam Australian Cricketer's ‘Dirty Tricks’ (Watch Video).

Talking about Steve Smith’s performance in the IPL 2020, he had only scored 311 runs at an average of 25. He had a strike rate of 131 in the IPL 2020. Talking about the scuffing incident, the former Australian captain was allegedly caught scuffing the pitch and the netizens slammed him for being such a cheater. The fans slammed him for scuffing the pitch and he was one of the top trends on social media.

The IPL 2021 is just a few months away and the franchisees are preparing their teams for the upcoming edition of the tournament. It was said that Chennai Super Kings might leave out on players like Kedar Jadhav and Piyush Chawla to increase their purse money for the auctions. The auctions for the IPL 2021 could be held in February. The BCCI has asked the franchises to release the final list of players by January 20, 2021.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jan 12, 2021 11:32 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).