Australian batting star Steve Smith on Monday stated that he would love to take part in the Indian Premier League (IPL) if the T20 World Cup scheduled in his country for Octiver-November is postponed owing to the coronavirus pandemic.

Meanwhile, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is looking to conduct the lucrative league in the September-October window after they were forced to indefinitely postpone the tournament.

Smith, who was named the skipper of the Rajasthan Royals franchise, said that he would be open to travelling for the IPL if the Australian government think it is safe.

“I think when you’re 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,” Smith said after returning to training with the New South Wales squad on Monday. (via PTI)

“But if that doesn’t happen and the IPL’s there, and they postpone it, then so be it. 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.”

“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.

“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,” said Smith.

Smith feels that it would be hard to find a substitute to saliva which will be banned once cricket resumes post-COVID-19.

“I’ve always been one to want a fair contest between bat and ball, so if that’s taken away, even as a batter I don’t think that’s great. Whether they can find other ways with certain things, it’ll be hard.

“I actually spit on my hands most balls and that’s how I get grip and stuff. So that might take some adjusting to certain things like that, but that’s something for the ICC to figure out what they want to do going forward and different regulations,” he said.

There are also questions over the status of the World Test Championship and how it will now plan out. As far as Smith is concerned, he would like the championship to be retained.

“It’d be ideal if we can keep that going. It’s the first one we’ve had and we’re all working towards hopefully playing at Lord’s in mid-June (2021), we were all working towards that…

“…so it’d be good if we could carry on with that, but I don’t know, everything is sort of up in the air at the moment with everything going on around the world. So we’ll wait and see where everything lands,” he added.