In the aftermath of the recent ball tampering controversy which forced Australia skipper Steve Smith to step down, his IPl franchise Rajasthan Royals on Monday also stripped Smith of the captaincy and named Ajinkya Rahane to lead the side in the upcoming Indian Premier league.
The Royals, returning to the IPl fold after serving a two-year ban on charges of corruption, had on Sunday sought time to take a final call ahead of the start of the 11th edition of the cash-rich league.
"Ajinkya Rahane has been an integral part of the Royals family for a long time now and he understands the culture and values of our team. We have absolutely no doubt that he will be a great leader of the Rajasthan Royals," the team's head of cricket Zubin Bharucha said in a statement.
"The incident in Cape Town has certainly disturbed the cricketing world. We have been in constant touch with the BCCI and taken their counsel. Furthermore we have been in regular contact with Smith."
"It's in the best interest of the Rajasthan Royals that Smith steps down as captain so the team can get ready for the start of the IPl without the ongoing distractions." he added.
Welcoming Rahane as the captain of the team, Ranjit Barthakur, executive Chairman, Rajasthan Royals, said: "Ajinkya Rahane has stepped up as a leader whenever he has been given the opportunity, be it for India or at Rajasthan Royals."
"We consider him the right candidate to lead the side this crucial season when the team is coming back to the IPl after two years. We wish him all the best.
"Governance and security are the prime policies that we as a franchise have taken into consideration and hence Rajasthan Royals' management is working towards deploying the best of governing and security methodologies to deliver the very best for the game of cricket in Jaipur," added Barthakur.
Rajasthan Royals will launch their season with an away fixture against Sunrisers Hyderabad on April 9 followed by their first home game in Jaipur on April 11 where they will host Delhi Daredevils at Sawai Mansingh stadium.
The IPl starts April 7 with Mumbai Indians facing Chennai Super Kings in Mumbai.
‘Smith's time as skipper up’
london: Former Australia fast bowler Jason Gillespie said there was no way Steve Smith could possibly continue as the full-time captain of the national side given his central role in a ball-tampering scandal that has "torched" the reputation of the team and stunned world cricket.
But he said he would be "amazed" if Australia coach Darren lehmann, a former team-mate with both South Australia and Australia, had been involved.
Smith admitted to having been behind a premeditated attempt to cheat after young batsman Cameron Bancroft was caught by television cameras deliberately roughing up the ball with a piece of tape during the third day's play of the third Test against South Africa in Cape Town on Saturday
Smith was subsequently banned for one match by the International Cricket Council, just hours after he and vice-captain David Warner had stood down from their positions for the rest of the match, which ended in a crushing 322-run win for South Africa on Sunday as the hosts went 2-1 up in the four-match series.
But Smith insisted Saturday he had no intention of resigning the captaincy.
Gillespie, however, said it was unthinkable the star batsman could continue as skipper.
"Steve Smith's time as Australia's captain is surely up," Gillespie, now the coach of English county Sussex, wrote in a column for Britain's Guardian newspaper.
"It is impossible to envisage a scenario where he stays in the job. This is a train wreck."
Gillespie, who played 71 Tests in an Australia side that were the dominant force in the five-day game in the 1990s and early 2000s, had no doubt about what had gone on at Cape Town's Newlands ground.
"This was pre-planned cheating...The reputation of a team who were already drawing scorn for their behaviour has been torched.
"The brutal reality is that this team are seen as arrogant and all too quick to dictate 'the line' to others.
“It was not so long ago that Warner was ripping into (South Africa captain) Faf du Plessis for ball-tampering in 2016, saying Australia would never do the same. The events over the weekend have exposed this as rank hypocrisy."
Smith insisted lehmann had no prior knowledge of the plan to cheat and Gillespie, long-tipped as a future Australia coach, said: "I would be amazed if this was not the case and that the moves he (lehmann) made when it all unravelled on the field were not done on instinct to protect his players."