Steve Smith wary of losing his USD 2.5 million contract if IPL 2020 gets cancelled due to Coronavirus

The coronavirus outbreak has put an absolute halt of cricket events across the world. The Indian Premier League 2020 which was supposed to start on March 29, has been pushed until April 15. With India likely to end its lockdown only after April 15, it’s likely that the tournament will be cancelled this season. There is no guarantee if the situation will get better but fans would hope things get better.

When it comes to the players, they seem to be very disappointed with the delay. However, almost every people who have spoken about the issue has revealed that they feel its the appropriate move. Australian batsman Steve Smith, who has been contracted with Rajasthan Royals for this season spoke about the IPL and his quarantine time recently.

There’s a high possibility that IPL 2020 will be cancelled altogether, robbing Smith of his $2.5 million contract. Smith has a salary cap of INR 12 Crore with Royals and will also lead them this season. He handed over the captaincy of the franchise in the middle of the season last year.

‘It’s unlikely at the moment’: Steve Smith on IPL 2020

Upon being asked how he is spending his quarantine time now, Smith told the reporter that he staying home completely. “It’s a bit different. I am playing a bit of guitar. I have got a gym downstairs, so I am spending my time there. That’s pretty much it,” Smith told the reporters as quoted by au.sports.yahoo.

When asked about the IPL, Smith said that he doesn’t think that the tournament will be played in these conditions. But, the former Aussie captain also mentioned how he is keeping himself ready if in case the tournament happens.

“It’s obviously not looking likely (the IPL will go ahead) at the moment,” Smith said during the interview with Channel Nine. “I think there might be some meetings over the next few days to discuss what the go is with it all. I’m just trying to stay physically and mentally fit and fresh and, if it goes ahead at some point, then great. And, if not, there’s plenty going on in the world at the moment. So just play it day by day.”

Steve Smith was serving a two years ban from leading the Australian side again. After the ball-tampering scandal in 2018, the batsman was banned for one year from playing but two years from captaincy. Now, with the ban being lifted, the batsman can once again become the Aussie captain if asked to be. But, both the ODI captain Aaron Finch and the Test captain Tim Paine has been quite impressive with their performances in respective formats, making Smith’s case of coming back to captaincy a far fetched dream this moment.