Ben Stokes to assist Steve Smith while leading the Rajasthan Royals: Manoj Badale

England all-rounder Ben Stokes was having tough times dealing with troubles in his career after he got involved in a brawl outside a pub in Bristol. He was dropped from the Ashes squad of England and later found his name missing from the team sheet for the ODIs and T20Is as well. But the IPL auction might well have brought some good news for the 26-year-old all-rounder.

His participation in the upcoming Indian Premier League was in question when the IPL’s mega-auction took place in Bangalore on 26th and 27th of January. Even when his participation was in question, the IPL franchises went all guns blazing to get the all-rounder in their side. Eventually, It was Rajasthan Royals who managed to bid the highest amount for the left-handed Stokes. Having bought the player for a big amount, the side has already managed to plan out the way they want to play the 26-year-old Stokes on their side.

Rahane and Stokes to perform broader leadership roles

Australia skipper Steve Smith will be leading the side while the Rahane-Stokes duo will be performing the broader leadership role. While speaking to Sportstar, co-owner of the side, Manoj Badale pointed that the Australian captain has been extremely busy leading the Australian side. So as per Badale, they want to develop a broader leadership side where the experience of Ben Stokes and Ajinkya Rahane will come handy for them.

“It is important that we build a broader leadership team, in which we hope experienced players like Ben Stokes and Rahane play a role. We must understand this that we are rebuilding a franchise with many years in mind,” he told Sportstar.

Sighting their past method and ideas, Badale told that they have always nurtured the young talent under good leaders from their side and this year will be no different for them. “We need team players and leaders around whom we can develop young talent in the coming years as we have always done,” said the co-owner of the side.

The side is returning in the IPL after facing a 2-year suspension and they would hope to turn the table with the players like Smith, Stokes and Rahane in their side.

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