It has been five months since Steve Smith featured in an international match. The coronavirus-induced lockdown in the world of sport forced the cricketers into a long break.

The Indian Premier League — starting on September 19 in the UAE — will mark the return of Smith along with other international stars. He is excited to lead the Rajasthan Royals again.

Key message

Smith understands the conditions will be challenging and that adaptability will be the key.

“The conditions in Dubai can be similar to what you get in India or they could be different. It’s about adapting on the run. That’s going to be the key message for me and the coaching staff along the way as well,” said Smith, while interacting with a select group of media during the special screening of Inside Story: A Season with Rajasthan Royals — a documentary on the team.

Six years ago, the first leg of the IPL was held in the UAE. Smith believes that experience will help a few players. “Guys are gonna be just jumping out of their skin to get into there and play some quality cricket.

“It’s disappointing that it’s not in India, we would have absolutely loved to play there. But to get the tournament up and give everyone a chance to play, it’s amazing what has been going behind the scene,” Smith said.

Challenging times

The past few months have been challenging for the cricketing fraternity but the situation is slowly getting better with players resuming training. “A lot of people have not played any cricket at all or had very little under their belts, so from that point of view, it’s sort of an even contest. Everyone is going in with the same sort of preparations, which is nice…

“It has, however, been incredibly difficult times and guys are trying to get their cricket pitches anywhere possible,” said Smith.

Before participating in the IPL, the Australian team will travel to England for a limited-overs series.