Sydney: Australian batsman Steve Smith on Monday said that he is open to playing the Indian Premier League (IPL) if the T20 World Cup gets postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The T20 World Cup is slated to be held in Australia from October 18-November 15 this year, however, the future of the tournament is not known due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The IPL was slated to start from March 29, however it was postponed indefinitely due to COVID-19, and it is being speculated that the tournament might go ahead in October if the T20 World Cup is postponed.
“I think when you are playing for your country at a World Cup, that’s the pinnacle for one-day or T20 cricket, so of course I’d prefer to play in that. But if that doesn’t happen and the IPL’s there, and they postpone it, then so be it,” ESPNCricinfo quoted Smith as saying.
“IPL’s also a terrific tournament as a domestic tournament. So that’s out of everyone’s control at the moment, players are just doing what we’re told and going where we need to go and playing whatever’s on at that stage,” he added.
Smith also said that the news regarding T20 World Cup will be out in the public domain soon and added that he would just be following the guidelines issued by the government and health officials.
“I guess there’ll be some more news about it soon, probably some decisions to be made soon, so I’m sure we’ll all find out and know where we’re going to be. I personally haven’t really thought about it, I think it’d just be going off the advice of the professionals and the governments and essentially doing what we’re told,” Smith said.
“If that happens then great, if not then there’s just so much going on in the world right now that cricket kind of seems a little bit irrelevant. So we’ll get back when we’re told to and until then it is sit tight, get fit and strong and freshen up mentally,” he added.
The 30-year-old Smith is currently the number one ranked ICC Test batsman with 911 points and is closely followed by India skipper Virat Kohli with 886 points.
Smith was last seen in action against New Zealand in the first ODI of the three-match series in March this year.
After the first ODI, the series between both sides was postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Smith would have been leading the Rajasthan Royals in the IPL if the tournament had started on March 29.