Gautam Gambhir roasts Delhi Capitals for Steve Smith IPL 2021 bid with interesting query

Former Indian opener Gautam Gambhir is among a handful of cricketers who are extremely blunt and vocal about their views. Recently, the southpaw was extensively involved with the broadcasters of IPL 2021 (Star Sports Network) for the IPL auction 2021 where he gave a detailed analysis of the players franchises should buy and the ones they should avoid. It will be safe to say that a majority of Gautam Gambhir's predictions were spot on.

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Gautam Gambhir baffled by Delhi's decision to buy Steve Smith

Gambhir has now expressed his perplexion over Delhi Capitals' decision to buy former Australian captain Steve Smith at the IPL auction as the franchise's top-order is already full of star-studded names. The Steve Smith IPL 2021 base price was ₹2 crore and the right-hander was bought by Delhi at a modest price of ₹2.2 crore. The decision to buy Smith came as a surprise as Delhi already have the likes of Shikhar Dhawan, Prithvi Shaw, Ajinkya Rahane, Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant, Marcus Stoinis and Shimron Hetmyer within their ranks.

While speaking on Star Sports, Gambhir said that he actually never thought that Delhi Capitals would go for someone like Steve Smith because they don't really need him. He further said that Delhi have got Shikhar Dhawan who is in very good form and also Prithvi Shaw, Ajinkya Rahane, Shreyas Iyer and Rishabh Pant. According to Gambhir, Delhi will definitely play Hetmyer and Marcus Stoinis. Gambhir reckoned that Anrich Nortje and Kagiso Rabada have done really well for them and they will have the services of England all-rounder Chris Woakes as well, which is why he wonders where and how will Smith exactly drafted into the playing XI.

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However, Gambhir opined that the only good thing in the decision is that they bought Smith at a very cheap price. He stated that he would have been more critical if Delhi had bought Steve Smith at a very high price. Gambhir reiterated that most of the players Delhi bought are steal buys especially Umesh Yadav (₹1 crore), Steve Smith (₹2.2 crore), Sam Billings (₹2 crore), which is why he believes that they did a great job at the auction.

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IPL 2021 auction list of sold players

Besides Steve Smith, other notable names that the team picked up in the auction include the likes of Indian speedster Umesh Yadav, Tom Curran, and Sam Billings. Moreover, they have also added rising Indian domestic stars like Ripal Patel, Vishnu Vinod, Lukman Meriwala, and M Siddharth. It is worth mentioning that the team had traded Daniel Sams and Harshal Patel to the Royal Challengers Bangalore ahead of the auction. 

Delhi Capitals squad 2021

Shikhar Dhawan, Prithvi Shaw, Ajinkya Rahane, Rishabh Pant, Shreyas Iyer, Axar Patel, Amit Mishra, Ishant Sharma, Ravichandran Ashwin, Lalit Yadav, Avesh Khan, Pravin Dubey, Kagiso Rabada, Anrich Nortje, Marcus Stoinis, Shimron Hetmyer, Chris Woakes, Steve Smith, Umesh Yadav, Tom Curran, Sam Billings, Ripal Patel, Vishnu Vinod, Lukman Meriwala, and M Siddharth.

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SOURCE: GAUTAM GAMBHIR INSTAGRAM/ IPLT20.COM