3 Franchises That Can Target Jamie Smith For IPL 2026 After Heroics vs India



Jamie Smith Century - (Source: @Johns/X.com)Jamie Smith Century - (Source: @Johns/X.com)

On Friday, July 4, England's 24-year-old sensation Jamie Smith repaid the faith shown in him by the selectors as the keeper-batter slammed his second Test century in the ongoing 2nd Test against India. The right-handed batter took just 80 balls to reach this milestone, becoming the first English wicketkeeper to score a ton against India.

Smith broke a plethora of records with his knock, but the one closest to his heart would be becoming the fastest player to score a hundred against India in Test cricket. The 24-year-old came to bat when the Three Lions were 84/5. Jamie went all guns blazing from the first ball and truly defined Bazball with his innings.

Teams Which Can Target Jamie Smith

The aggressive brand of cricket would not only have excited the English crowd, but also caught the eyes of franchises across leagues, particularly the IPL.

Notably, Smith has never registered for the IPL auction, and since the upcoming edition will feature a mini-auction, there is no doubt that the 24-year-old will be a target for many teams. Besides batting, Smith is also good with the gloves and opens the innings in the shortest format of the game. Thus, teams with inconsistent top orders and a requirement for a keeper-batter will go after Jamie Smith. Firstly, lets shed light on Smith's stats across every format.

Criteria
Tests
T20I
ODIs
Innings
19512
Runs846130258
Average52.872621.50
Strike-Rate77.26194113.15
50/1004/21/01/0


1. Delhi Capitals

The Capitals had a bizarre season, as they were on top of the table for the first half of the tournament but struggled to win in the remaining half. DC's top order was an issue as Faf du Plessis and Jake Fraser-McGurk failed to click at the top.

DC used the most opening combinations in the tournament—seven. Thus, the Capitals would look for a solid batter at the top who can put runs on the board and also keep wickets, as Abishek Porel struggled with the gloves.

Lets Look at Du Plessis and McGurk's performance in IPL 2025.

Criteria
Faf Du Plessis
Jake Fraser-McGurk
Innings
9
6
Runs202
55
Average22.44
9.17
Strike-Rate123
105.77
50/1002/0
0/0


2. Kolkata Knight Riders

Similar to DC, KKR also had an underwhelming season, finishing 8th on the points table. Unlike 2024, when the Knight Riders had one of the best opening pairs, the three-time winners struggled for starts at the top.

Quinton de Kock and Rahmanullah Gurbaz were the two keeper-batters for the Knight Riders, but both struggled for runs and couldn't provide the platform that Phil Salt did for RCB or Ryan Rickelton for MI. Thus, KKR won't mind going after Jamie Smith in the auction.

Lets look at Quinton de Kock and Rahmanullah Gurbaz's stats for IPL 2025.

Criteria
Quinton de Kock
Rahmanullah Gurbaz
Innings
8
5
Runs152
74
Average21.71
18.50
Strike-Rate129.91
139.62
50/1001/0
0/0

3. Chennai Super Kings

MS Dhoni's future is the biggest mystery of the league, but many believe that the 43-year-old has played his last season in the cash-rich league. If that is true, then the five-time winners are in dire need of a keeper-batter.

There are rumours that CSK are hunting for Sanju Samson, but if the RR captain decides to stay with the Royals, Jamie Smith could be a great replacement. Smith can open the innings with Ayush Mhatre, with Ruturaj Gaikwad batting at No. 3.