Their IPL campaign already in tatters with two consecutive defeats, Rajasthan Royals were on Tuesday dealt a body blow as their opener Greame Smith has ruled himself out of the entire season-III due to a finger injury.
Smith fractured his right middle finger while fielding in Mondays's match against Delhi Daredevils. "I have a double fracture in my right middle finger, so will be missing the IPL. I hurt it taking the catch off Sehwag last night. wen (When) I landed, my finger got hooked in the ground," Smith wrote on his Twitter page.
The burly South African had suffered a finger during the Test series against India also in February and did not play the following One-day series. The Rajasthan team is already without key performers in Shane Watson and Ravindra Jadeja.
While the Australian all-rounder is doing national duty in New Zealand, Jadeja is serving a one-year ban. Explosive batsman Yusuf Pathan and Dimitri Mascarenhas also injured themselves in Monday's match.
The inaugural edition champions will next play against Royal Challengers Bangalore. They lost their first match to Mumbai Indians on Saturday and second to Delhi Daredevils on Monday.
