Steve Smith did not have a good day in the office during the IPL 2020 clash between Mumbai Indians and Rajasthan Royals at the Sheikh Zayed stadium in Abu Dhabi. Smith, the Rajasthan Royals skipper, fell for 6 to Jasprit Bumrah and his team lost the match by 57 runs, with only Jos Buttler contributing with an aggressive 70. This was Rajasthan Royals’ third straight loss in IPL 2020 and it put them in seventh spot, just over Kings XI Punjab who have just one win from five games. Ever since their two wins in Sharjah, Rajasthan Royals have struggled to achieve success in Abu Dhabi and Dubai.

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Following the end of the match, Steve Smith’s woes increased as he was fined Rs 12 lakh for a slow over-rate during the match. According to a press release from the Indian Premier League, it stated, “As it was his team's first offence of the season under the IPL's Code of Conduct relating to minimum over-rate offences, Steve Smith was fined Rs 12 lakh.”

According to the IPL slow over-rate rules, a similar offence the next time will result in a fine of Rs 24 lakhs while it will not be third time lucky as the player will be fined Rs 30 lakhs and banned for one game.

Losing wickets does not help

Speaking after the end of the match, Steve Smith said losing wickets in a big chase at the start does not help. “"I think losing wickets early doesn`t help, we haven`t been able to get off to a good start in the last three games. Outside of Jos and Archer at the end, we have a bit of work to do on our batting. He (Stokes) is not out till the 10th I think. He is not too far away, hopefully, we can get a few wins before he`s back and then gain momentum," Smith said during the post-match presentation.

However, the Rajasthan Royals skipper insisted there was no need to panic. "I don’t think we need to panic too much, it is just about implementing our plans and playing some good cricket for longer. We haven`t been able to do that in the last three games and we have to turn it around quickly. Hopefully, get a bit of momentum," he added.