‘Netflix and chill’ keeping Steve Smith engaged in quarantine period

Steve Smith, the Australian batsman, was all set to ply his trade for the Rajasthan Royals (RR) in the 2020 edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL). The tournament was earlier scheduled to get underway on March, but that couldn’t be possible after the massive coronavirus outbreak sent the world in a lockdown. The start of the T20 tournament was hence postponed to April 15.

But with the 21-day lockdown in India until April 14, the future of the IPL seems to be bleak. Like the other cricketers, even Smith, the ICC’s number-one ranked Test batsman, has been spending quality time with family. He last played Australia’s opening T20I against New Zealand at the Sydney Cricket Ground. The game was played behind closed doors and the rest of the series was cancelled.

Steve Smith’s hilarious conversation with RR’s spin consultant

Recently, he had a video chat with Ish Sodhi, who has been appointed as the spin-consultant of the Royals. Sodhi, who also played for RR, asked Smith about what he’s been doing in the quarantine period. “Netflix and chill,” Smith said. Smith and Sodhi are going to be a part of another video podcast for the Royals, which will release soon.

In the meantime, Sodhi also noticed Smith’s facial hair. Sodhi asked, “What’s going on with your face, mate?” Listening to the same, Smith burst into laughter after saying, “Isn’t it awful.”

🚨 ANNOUNCEMENT – 🅢🅣🅔🅥🅔 🅢🅜🅘🅣🅗 🅘🅢 🅞🅝 🅣🅗🅔 🅡🅞🅨🅐🅛🅢 🅟🅞🅓🅒🅐🅢🅣 😍

Ep 2 sees Ish Sodhi welcome the number 1️⃣ Test batsman in the world. Stay tuned! 🤩#HallaBol | #RoyalsFamily | @ish_sodhi | @stevesmith49 pic.twitter.com/GpnSRMwgG0

— Rajasthan Royals (@rajasthanroyals) April 6, 2020

Steve Smith wasn’t a part of the IPL 2018 after Cricket Australia (CA) suspended him in the ball-tampering scandal. But he made a comeback in the previous edition of the T20 tournament. In fact, midway through the season, he was also appointed as RR’s skipper, replacing Ajinkya Rahane. In the last edition, the Royals finished seventh after managing only five wins from 15 games.

Even as Rahane has been traded to the Delhi Capitals, Smith continues to be a part of the Royals. For the time being, it remains to be seen if the IPL takes place this year amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. Talks about conducting the IPL without the foreign players and behind closed doors have also been doing the rounds.