“Really Grateful For The Opportunity You Guys Have Given” – Odean Smith after he bought for Rs 6 crore by Punjab Kings

West Indies all-rounder Odean Smith’s dream of playing in the IPL came true when the Punjab Kings side bid successfully for him in the ongoing IPL 2022 auction and got him for a hefty price of INR 6 crores.

Few days ago, the 28-year-old said in a virtual media interaction after the second ODI in Ahmedabad, he 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,” today it came true

When Odean Smith’s name came up for the bid in the auction, Kings faced stiff war from Lucknow Super Giants, Rajasthan Royals, and Sunrisers Hyderabad, with the three franchises doing their best to outbid one another.

The 25 year-old from Jamaica is a well built strong hard-hitting batter and a fast bowler, who can hit speeds of high 140 kph as well, in the mold of Andre Russell.

He had a good T20I series against England at home and showed his skills in the recent ODI series against India also, where he replaced captain Kieron Pollard in the playing XI.

Smith was quite impressive in the second ODI he played against India, as he picked up the big wicket of Virat Kohli by setting him up nicely and finished with figures of 2 for 29 in 7 overs.

And then Scored a 20-ball 24 with two sixes and flexed his big muscles in the process. He continued his good run in the third ODI as well where he scored an 18 ball 36, in which he hit three huge maximums and three fours as well.

He has been a wicket-taker with the ball with 36 wickets in 33 games in the format and was one of the shining stars in the Caribbean Premier League 2021 also we see his performance at T10, which got him noticed by the IPL franchises.

The Punjab Kings (PBKS) shared a video of Odean Smith speaking to the fans and saying,

“Hi Punjab Family, Odean Smith here. Really grateful for the opportunity you guys have given to me. Really hoping to join you guys soon. And hopefully, this year we will hold the trophy.”