Steve Smith might pull out of Indian Premier League 2021: Michael Clarke

Michael Clarke has indicated that batsman Steve Smith might pull out of the Indian Premier League 2021. Delhi Capitals picked the top-ranked batsman for Rs 2.2 crores at the auction. One of the finest batsmen in cricket currently, Smith was in great form during the limited-overs series against India last year.

Delhi Capitals also picked experienced players liked Tom Curran and Sam Billings for Rs 5.25 crore and Rs 2 crore, respectively. Indian fast pacer Umesh Yadav was bought for his base price of Rs.1 crore. Lukman Meriwala, Ripal Patel, Vishnu Vinod and Manimaran Siddharth were also bought at their respective base prices. Each had a base price of Rs.20 lakh.

Smith might not feature in the IPL due to low price: Michael Clarke

Rajasthan Royals, who retained Smith in 2018 for Rs 12.5 crore, finished at the bottom in the points table in IPL 2020. Steve Smith has amassed 2333 runs from 95 matches in the IPL while scoring 311 from 14 games last season. The amount that Steve Smith got in the IPL 2021 auctions surprised the former Australian skipper Michael Clarke. He hinted that Smith might not feature in the tournament due to the low price and the quarantine before the league starts. 

Before the auction, many anticipated that Smith and Virat Kohli would be playing together in the IPL. However, the Delhi Capitals bid turned out to be decisive. This now means that the Australian batsman will play for his fourth IPL franchise.

In the T20s, Smith has scored 4438 runs in 209 matches at a strike rate of 126.40. This also includes one century and 21 half-centuries.

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