The 13th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) concluded almost three months and the buzz for the next edition has already been started with the IPL 2021 auction. The eight franchises were seen bidding for the players in Chennai on Thursday, 18 February, for the mini-auction in order to find the right balance in their squad ahead of the 14th season of the IPL scheduled to be commencing on April.

The IPL  2021 auction Cricket News witnessed a lot of drama in store with surprise omissions, staggering amounts, and a few steals. We look at 5 players who were expected to get higher bids from teams considering their current form and skill-set but ended up going for relatively cheap amounts.

Here are the steal bids from the IPL 2021 auction:

#1 Steve Smith (Delhi Capitals) – ₹2.2 Crores

Though Steve Smith had amassed just 311 runs at a strike rate of 131.22 in IPL 202, he was expected to grab a lot of eyeballs after Rajasthan Royals released him. He one of the batsmen who will provide a lot of stability and has been one of the most reliable players for his country in the last few years. Smith, with a base price of ₹2 crores, was expected to interest teams such as Royal Challengers Bangalore and Chennai Super Kings, but DC stole him for just ₹2.2 Crores.

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A major reason why franchises showed less interest in Smith because of his low strike-rate in T20s, but his ability to adapt to any situation makes him a huge X-factor for the Capitals. He will also have a point to prove after being released by the Royals ahead of the season and could have one of his best IPL seasons.