Rajasthan Royals planning 'broader leadership' role for Stokes

While all the other franchises have named their coaches, Royals is yet to appoint a coach, and Badale admitted that it would take another couple of weeks before something materialises.

England all-rounder Ben Stokes is central to Rajasthan's plans for the future.

There may still be doubts over Ben Stokes' availability in the Indian Premier League (IPL), but his franchise — Rajasthan Royals — has already chalked out plans for the England all-rounder.

While the side will be captained by Australian Steven Smith, the Royals will use Stokes and Ajinkya Rahane for 'broader leadership role'.

"Steve is a natural choice for captain, but we also have to respect the fact that he has had an incredibly busy few months," Rajasthan Royals' co-owner, Manoj Badale, told  Sportstar  on Monday.

READ: Royals’ plans on expected lines

"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. We need team players and leaders around whom we can develop young talent in the coming years as we have always done," Badale said.

While all the other franchises have named their coaches, Royals is yet to appoint a coach, and Badale admitted that it would take another couple of weeks before something materialises.

"We are currently working to structure the entire support staff team. We have appointed a head of cricket – Zubin Bharucha — and a coach is one part of the support system. It will take another couple of weeks, before we can make any announcements," Badale said.

Coming back from suspension, Royals will be playing it's home matches at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur this season. But significantly, it has only picked Rajasthan young gun Mahipal Lomror in the side. The fact that there is hardly any Rajasthan presence in the side has drawn flak in the social media, but Badale admitted that leaving out Rajasthan players was not a conscious decision.

"We did bid for several players from Rajasthan on both the days of auction, however, you cannot control what other teams are prepared to play for talented players – which is testament to how well Team Rajasthan have done in domestic competitions this year. That said, we are excited to have a young talent like Mahipal with us, a home grown talent," Badale said.

Bringing some of the biggest names on board, Royals would be hoping to come back into the IPL fray with a bang.