REVEALED | Why Royal Challengers Bangalore Backed Out After First Bid For Steve Smith at IPL Auction | WATCH

Delhi Capitals got Steve Smith on board for Rs 2.2 Cr.

Ahead of the auction, speculations were rife that Royal Challengers Bangalore and Chennai Super Kings will place a bid for Australia’s premier batsman Steve Smith. Surprisingly, that did not happen as Delhi Capitals got Smith on board for Rs 2.2 Cr. Smith – after being released by Rajasthan Royals – kept himself in the Rs 2 Cr bracket.

He was expected to set the auction on fore in Chennai, but that did not exactly happen that way. Now, RCB has revealed the reason why they backed out after the first bid for Smith.

In a video shared by the official Twitter handle of the franchise, fans can see how RCB did a mock auction on the eve of the main event. During the mock auction, when Smith’s name is raised – RCB management asks head coach Mike Hesson if Smith can bowl as well.

Bold Diaries: The curious case of Steve Smith bid

Why did the RCB management withdraw after the first bid? Here’s the video of the planning that went behind the Steve Smith bid this #IPLAuction2021.#PlayBold pic.twitter.com/Nl60YrnoIB

— Royal Challengers Bangalore (@RCBTweets) February 23, 2021

Hesson clarifies that Smith does not bowl, not even occasionally nowadays and that seems to be the big reason why RCB did not bid for Smith.

RCB was looking for a different kind of player at that slot and Smith was not fitting the bill and that is why RCB did not bid again.

RCB had planned in advance that they would place the first bid for Smith but in the hindsight they knew that other franchises would also bid for him.

Eventually, they bought Glenn Maxwell for a staggering Rs 14.25 Cr. Maxwell was someone who fitted their bill. He can bat and can also roll his arm over if needed.

RCB Full Squad: Virat Kohli, AB de Villiers, Devdutt Padikkal, Md. Siraj, Navdeep Saini, Washington Sundar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Joshua Phillipe, Sachin Baby, Rajat Patidar, Mohammed Azharuddeen, Kyle Jamieson, Srikar Bharat, Suyash Prabhudesai, Daniel Christian, Pavan Deshpande, Shahbaz Ahmed, Adam Zampa, Kane Richardson, Glenn Maxwell, Sachin Baby, Rajat Patidar