Clarke opines Steve Smith might cut-short his time at IPL 2021 after bagging a cheap deal

Reviewing Steve Smith's cheap trade to the Delhi Capitals at the IPL 2021 auctions, former Australia captain Micahel Clarke reckons that the former Rajasthan Royals' skipper might not want to play the entire IPL season due to the low-priced deal. The World Cup-winning captain has predicted that Steve Smith might picked a hamstring niggle as an excuse to cut down his time at the IPL 2021 and stay back home. One of the first few names to go under the hammer in IPL auctions, Steve Smith received little interests from franchises before being bought by Delhi Capitals for Rs 2.2 crores. 

Explaining why the cheap contract might hurt the Australian batsman, Clarke reasoned that Steve Smith is in the top three batsmen in the world right now, if Indian skipper Virat Kohli is on number one. Moreover, Clarke lamented on Smith's contract with the Rajasthan Royals last year as he compared it to the deal he has bagged this year and added that one should not be 'surprised' if Smith picks up a hamstring strain just before boarding the plane to India to delay his arrival. 

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'I don't think...'

"I know his T20 performances haven’t been as good as he would have like – last year’s IPL he wasn’t great. I’m very surprised he has gone for the amount of money he has, just under $400,000 – which is still good money. But when you look at what he was getting (last season) and his role as captain of Rajasthan, don’t be surprised if there’s a little hamstring strain the day the plane is meant to fly to India," Clarke said on the Big Sports Breakfast Podcast.

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"For him to go away for an eight-week tournament and quarantine before the tournament starts – call it 11 weeks. I don’t think he is going to give up 11 weeks away from his family and his partner for $380,000," he added. 

Furthermore, Clarke also said that Smith might want to skip the IPL 2021 and go to India for the T20 World Cup to prove his worth to the franchises, in order to bag a lucrative IPL contract the next season. "I’m really interested to see if he gets a tight hamstring and doesn’t go. Or if it goes the other and he says I do want to go and play in this T20 World Cup and I do want to get picked up for more money in the next IPL. I am going to go there, I don't care for the money and will prove people wrong," Clarke concluded. 

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