IPL 2021: Steve Smith opens up for first time on playing under Rishabh Pant for Delhi Capitals

Australian batting superstar Steve Smith, after being with the Rajasthan Royals for five years will start his new journey in the Indian Premier League (IPL) with the Delhi Capitals in the new season of the lucrative tournament. Smith, who led Rajasthan Royals in the last season was released by the franchise ahead of this year's auction and was picked by Delhi for INR 2.2 crore.

After getting picked, Smith was one of the frontrunners to become the new captain of the side for this year's IPL after the regular skipper Shreyas Iyer was ruled out due to an injury in the left shoulder, which required surgery and would take him a couple of months, at least to recover. The Capitals, however, handed the captaincy to the 23-year old wicket-keeper batsman Rishabh Pant as part of a collective decision of the team management, coach Ricky Ponting and the owners of the franchise.

Smith, who is still undergoing the mandatory 7-day quarantine as part of the SOPs for the IPL has opened up for the first time on playing under Rishabh Pant and working alongside him to get the Delhi Capitals to their first title.

During a question and answer session with the fans on Instagram, Smith was asked about his views on Pant being the captain, he said, "I am excited to see Rishabh as captain. I think he is an incredible player as we've seen over the last few months. He's taken his game to a new level. 

"I think captaincy will suit him really well. Excited to work underneath him and hopefully we can have a successful season," Smith added.

Smith, whose quarantine will end on April 9, was excited to join the last year's runners-up, Delhi Capitals this year and working with coach Ponting and skipper Pant and said that they have got a good squad and hoped that they can go one step further than the last season.

Delhi will open their 2021 campaign against the Mahendra Singh Dhoni-led Chennai Super Kings (CSK) on April 10 in Mumbai.