Punjab Kings are on the hunt for a new captain in IPL 2025 auction. There are no doubts that PBKS can break their bank to go for either KL Rahul or Rishabh Pant, two of the most prominent stars in the list of marquee players, given their salary purse. Well what happens if they don’t manage to get any of the two? Shreyas Iyer has reportedly struck a deal with Delhi Capitals and is most likely to reunite with the franchise. That leaves PBKS with very limited options to select their next captain. Well, if there’s one veteran that can be the team’s last resort, it is none other than Steve Smith.
Will PBKS be forced to pick Steve Smith in IPL 2025 auction?
Steve Smith has registered himself for a base price of Rs 2 crore in IPL 2025 auction. He went unsold over the last few years in the mini-auction and last captained Rajasthan Royals (RR) in IPL. He also went on to lead Washington Freedom to their maiden Major League Cricket (MLC) title earlier this year. While many teams are on the hunt for KL Rahul and Rishabh Pant in the auction, Smith emerges as a last resort for PBKS as captain, should they fail to acquire the services of any of the two Indian stars.
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Steve Smith is at the fag end of his career, especially in the shortest format of the game. His T20I record with the bat is poor, having managed just 1094 runs from 67 matches. In T20 leagues across the world, the Australian batter has fared much better in IPL among other tournaments. In 103 IPL matches, he has managed to amass 2485 runs, averaging 34.51.
However, it is pertinent to point out that Steve Smith is out of the scheme of things, especially in T20Is and T20s. First, he missed the bus for the T20 World Cup after being excluded from the squad for the event in June. He then went on to play in Major Cricket League (MCL) where he managed to score 336 runs in 9 matches. His last T20I outing came as early as in February 2024 and he has been out of Australia’s side since then.
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