IPL 2021 Auction: Getting a player of Smith’s calibre adds a lot to our squad: Parth Jindal

New Delhi, Feb 18: JSW and GMR co-owned Delhi Capitals acquired World Cup-winning player Steve Smith along with exciting overseas players in the VIVO Indian Premier League 2021 Auction held in Chennai.

Former Australia captain, Smith was bought by the Delhi-based franchise for Rs 2.2 crore, while experienced T20 players Tom Curran and Sam Billings were bought for Rs 5.25 crore and Rs 2 crore respectively.

The Delhi Capitals also acquired four domestic players – Lukman Meriwala, Ripal Patel, Vishnu Vinod and Manimaran Siddharth at their base price of Rs 20 lakh.

Delhi Capitals' co-owner Parth Jindal expressed that he is very happy with the make-up of the squad for this year's IPL. "I think it's a very exciting squad yet again. Meriwala has been doing really well in the domestic tournaments and he's an Indian left-arm quick which we didn't have in our squad last year. He gives us an added variation and Tom Curran has the cutters, the slower ones, the quick ones and he's very good with the bat as well, so he gives that added balance to the squad."

Speaking on his team's major buy of Steve Smith, co-owner Parth Jindal said that going for the Australian was part of their plans, "It was just incredible to get Steve Smith. We are shocked about how he went only for Rs 2.2 crore, but to get a player of the calibre of Steve Smith, it's going to add a lot to our squad, a lot to our balance. His leadership, his batting, his experience, everything. Everyone associated with Delhi is just thrilled. We discussed Smith's name before the auction and we thought that he would go for much higher, so we had thought that if an opportunity arises, we will go for him, but we never anticipated actually getting him."