Despite ending on the losing side, West Indies all-rounder Odean Smith surely made his presence felt in the two ODIs he played in the three-match series. He was clinical with the ball, which included crucial breakthroughs, and with the bat he was equally superb.
Smith finished top on the charts with the most number of sixes, slamming five in total. He scored a blistering 18-ball 36 in the final ODI, and fetched 24 from 20 deliveries in the second.
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With the ball, the pacer bowled at a decent economy of just over 5 in the two matches and dismissed Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant, and Shikhar Dhawan.
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Impressed with the 25-year-old's performance, former India batter Aakash Chopra said that he has become a “half-a-million-dollar player” and expects all the franchises to show keen interest in getting hold of the all-rounder.
"Odean Smith - I feel he has become a half-a-million-dollar player. He has already become a 4-5 crore player because all teams will run after him."
{{/usCountry}}"Odean Smith - I feel he has become a half-a-million-dollar player. He has already become a 4-5 crore player because all teams will run after him."
{{/usCountry}}"Overall, the skillset with which he is coming, in the IPL mega auction, he will get a lot of horns blown. He bowls, Rishabh Pant and Kohli dismissed in one over and he would have got Rahul as well, and then came to play the big shots," said Chopra on his YouTube channel.
Meanwhile, Smith himself is expecting to bag a handsome deal at the auction. Priced in the highest bracket of ₹1 crore for the IPL mega auction on February 12 and 13 in Bengaluru, Smith is expected to spark a bidding war among the franchises.
"Quite excited going to the auction, I would say. If I get selected, that will be good. My hopes are high on getting selected," the 25-year-old said in a virtual media interaction after the second ODI in Ahmedabad.
Smith said he looks up to fellow Jamaican allrounder Andre Russell who has been a big hit for the two-time IPL champions Kolkata Knight Riders.
"I'm really influenced by Andre Russell I would say. He plays a similar kind of cricket, both with the batting style and bowling. Watching him over the years, I've picked up a few in terms of his batting."
-with PTI inputs