3 teams that could have signed Steve Smith had he been available at the IPL 2023 auction 

Steve Smith is lighting up the KFC Big Bash League 22/23 with his batting performances for the Sydney Sixers.

Unavailable for the majority of the season, Smith has come in and absolutely taken everyone by surprise. He became the first Sydney Sixers player to score a BBL hundred and followed up that knock with an even better one, scoring an unbeaten 125 off 66 balls.

All in all, his rejigged T20 game has seen him score 328 runs in four games at an unbelievable strike-rate of 180.22. Smith is one of the hardest batters to dismiss in world cricket and his run-scoring abilities have never been in doubt. Now that he's added a powerful, boundary-scoring element to his game, he could be a real force in T20 cricket, and that's something not a lot of people saw coming.

Had he been available at the IPL auction, especially after displaying this kind of form, he would definitely have attracted some attention. Having said that, let's look at three teams who could've signed Steve Smith had he listed himself at the auction.

---

#3. Rajasthan Royals

Since the Royals have filled out their quota of overseas players, they couldn't have signed Smith and gotten the players they currently have in the squad. So the best way to look at this is through the overseas signings they made and whether Smith is a better option than any of them.

Looking at their pick of Joe Root or even the untested Donovan Ferreira, I feel that had Steve Smith been available at the auction, the Royals could've gone for him over the Englishman.

Smith is no stranger to the Royals, having led the team in previous seasons, and while he would no longer be in their first-choice XI, his experience and camaraderie with the team would've helped the Royals.

---

#2. Kolkata Knight Riders

Similar to the Royals, upon looking at the KKR squad, the signing of Litton Das stands out. While I for one was really happy at the Bangladeshi keeper-batter finally getting a deserved IPL contract, I feel that had Steve Smith been available at the auction, KKR could've gone for him over Das.

Now, Smith is not a wicket-keeper, but with Rahmanullah Gurbaz already on their side as an overseas wicket-keeping option, I don't think they went after Das as a backup for Gurbaz behind the stumps and instead only as a batter. Being a subcontinental player, Das is a good player of spin and is a more attacking player, but overall, his record in T20s reads similarly to that of Smith's.

Franchises preferring Australian or English players to overseas players from other subcontinental countries has been a trend at the auction, and it's not hard to imagine that happening for KKR.

---

#1. Punjab Kings

This is perhaps the easiest one to explain. The Punjab Kings bafflingly left the auction table with an unfilled squad, but more importantly, without filling one of their overseas slots. The fact that they had more than ₹12 Crores to spend and didn't bother picking up a player at base price is beyond explanation.

In any case, a player with the experience and versatility of Steve Smith would've been a handy presence in any squad. He's one of the world's best players of spin and in case of an injury or a change in strategy where the team's looking for an anchor-like batter, Steve Smith would've been the perfect man for the job.