The absence of Stokes would severely impact Royals' campaign at least in the first half of the tournament because of the balance he brings to the side but having Smith in the playing XI would mean that the contest will not be without a fight.

The English and Australian players are currently under quarantine for next 36 hours before resuming training with the squad; pending negative test confirmation.

Steve Smith has recovered well but not enough to play competitive cricket, and CA is working with Rajasthan Royals over his concussion symptoms. 

Smith will return for Wednesday's deciding ODI having sat out the first two games after being hit on the head in the nets.

Smith was a late withdrawal from Friday's first ODI, which Australia won by 19 runs to go 1-0 up in the three-match series, after sustaining a blow on the head in the nets from a throw-down by a coaching staff member on the eve of the match.

Smith was a late withdrawal from Friday's first ODI, which Australia won by 19 runs to go 1-0 up in the three-match series, after sustaining a blow on the head in the nets from a throw-down by a coaching staff member on the match eve.

Australia said it was a precautionary measure after the incident on Thursday, which happened when a member of the coaching staff was throwing in the nets.

Steve Smith and Virat Kohli may be fierce competitors on the field, but the Australian batsman on Wednesday called the Indian captain the "best ODI batsman in the world."

Meet Rajasthan Royals' fresh batch of U-19s, starry-eyed, dreams to accomplish and waiting for their "Rockstar Ravindra Jadeja" moment like it happened 12 years ago with India's first-choice all-rounder across formats.

Both, Smith and Archer will be joining Yashasvi Jaiswal at Rajasthan Royals in the upcoming edition of the Indian Premier League.

Tim Paine's run is likely to end with the next Ashes at home next year and Cricket Australia will look for a new captain. 

Smith had a good taste of the English crowd in 2019. Australia had an extended English summer last year with the World Cup and the Ashes.

Australia talisman Steve Smith, who played alongside Dhoni in Indian Premier League for Rising Pune Supergiants in 2016 and 2017, posted a heartfelt note for the former India captain on Instagram.

Pujara was given the condition of picking himself while having only four Indians in the team. 

The 31-year-old had scored three centuries during the four-Test series in India in 2017 but Australia still ended up losing 1-2 and a Test win against Virat Kohli and his men ranks high in his list.

Playing his first Test series since the 2018 ball-tampering scandal led to him getting a one-year ban and losing the captaincy, Smith scored a mind-numbing 774 runs at an average of 110.57 from four Tests played.

The only other batsman who has garnered as much attention across formats as the Fab Four is Babar. And since 2018, Babar has outdone them all. No other batsman, in the last two years, with more than 500 runs, averages more than Babar's 65.5. 

Riyan Parag has said that it is a "dream come true" for him to be sharing dressing room with players like Steve Smith and Ben Stokes.

While Smith is sincerely hoping that Stokes doesn't bring in his A game during Australia's white-ball series in England, he wouldn't mind one bit if Stokes saves his best in the Royals jersey during upcoming IPL in the UAE.