Steve Smith will be one of the players among the 1355 candidates who have registered for the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 auction. The Australia star last played in the IPL in 2021 for Delhi Capitals. Since then, he hasn’t been picked by any franchise, as he went unsold in the previous mega auction also.
In the IPL so far, he has played 103 matches and in 93 innings has scored 2485 runs at an average of 34.51, along with one century and 11 half centuries. Smith has good experience of playing in the tournament, and this time, with not many overseas options for batters in the auction and teams needing one, Smith could attract interest.
Let’s look at three teams who could look to target Steve Smith in the IPL 2026 auction.
Delhi Capitals could be one of the teams that look to target Steve Smith in the IPL 2026 auction. The franchise has retained only Tristan Stubbs as their overseas batter from last season. They also released their openers Faf du Plessis and Jake Fraser-McGurk after their below par performances.
Because of this, DC will need an overseas batter who can play either in the top order or at No. 4. Smith fits this need as he is comfortable batting anywhere in the top 4. His experience and stability could help their batting lineup.
Adding Australia star will also bring leadership to the team and support captain Axar Patel. Another reason for targeting him could be that the franchise already knows him well, as he played for them earlier in 2021.
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Kolkata Knight Riders at the retention deadline kept only 12 players, and only two of them were overseas. They retained Sunil Narine and Rovman Powell as their overseas picks. This means they still have six overseas slots to fill, and they might look to target Steve Smith for one of those spots.
KKR have released batters like Quinton de Kock, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Venkatesh Iyer, and Andre Russell, who has now retired. Because of these releases, they will need a player who can bat either in the middle order or at the top order. Smith fits that requirement and can strengthen their batting lineup.
Adding Smith could also help Ajinkya Rahane and will add more leadership qualities in the squad, as both know each other well after playing together for Rajasthan Royals, Rising Pune Supergiants, and DC. So he could be one of the top targets for KKR in the IPL 2026 auction.
Steve Smith could get a bid from Punjab Kings in the IPL 2026 auction. One of the reasons is that their head coach is Ricky Ponting, and he has a good relationship with Smith. We also saw last season that they bid for plenty of Australian players.
The last season finalists have released Josh Inglis, so they will need a player who can take his place in the squad. So, Smith might be a good replacement as he can play in the No.4 role.
Ricky Ponting and Steve Smith have also worked together when Smith played for Washington Freedom in Major League Cricket and Ponting was the head coach. This connection makes Smith an even stronger option for them.
With the young squad that PBKS has, having him will help the youngsters a lot as he can guide them with his experience.
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