Despite being one of the premier batters in international cricket, he has faced challenges in securing a spot in the IPL in recent seasons which he was part of. The senior pro has played for as many as six IPL teams including Royal Challengers Bengaluru, Kochi Tuskers Kerala (now-defunct), Pune Warriors (now-defunct), Rajasthan Royals, Rising Pune Supergiant, and Delhi Capitals. He had gone unsold in the 2022 auction and later pulled out of registering his name for the mini-auction for the IPL 2023 season. For the record, he registered his name in the IPL 2024 auction held in Dubai. Unfortunately, he failed to attract the bidders before going unsold at the auction. The 35-year-old's strike-rate in the shortest format has often been seen as a limiting factor but he has been performing superbly well in the ongoing Major League Cricket (MLC) 2024, scoring 134 runs in 5 games at an average of 67 and a healthy strike rate of around 140, registering his best score of an unbeaten 46*. With Smith being in good nick with the bat, the IPL teams must be monitoring his batting and might think about signing the technically sound batter who can come in handy. Overall, he scored 2485 runs in 103 appearances in IPL, laced with 1 century and 11 fifties at an average of 34.5. Let's take a look at the three teams that can target Steve Smith at the IPL 2025 auction. 1. Chennai Super Kings The five-time IPL champions secured the services of New Zealand's top young talent, Rachin Ravindra for INR 1.8 crore following his impressive performance in ICC Men's ODI World Cup 2023. Nevertheless, the young left-hander failed to operate at a top gear apart from scoring just one fifty. Meanwhile, CSK are one of the teams who might be targeting Steve Smith to replace IPL flop Rachin Ravindra in the next season. Let's not forget that Smith can play as an opener or in the middle-order. 2. Punjab Kings The Mohali-based franchise has long been criticized for their inability to get their hands on the trophy since the inception of the IPL. PBKS will be one of the teams that will be in the race to sign Steve Smith in order to replace the out-of-form Jonny Bairstow who failed to perform well last season. The England international scored 298 runs in 11 games at an average of 29.80, including a century and his inconsistency let the team's spirit down. 3. Rajasthan Royals Steve Smith spent most of the time at Rajasthan Royals as he represented the franchise from 2014 to 2015 and from 2019 to 2020. There is still a possibility that the Royals might bring him back again to replace the jaded Shimron Hetmyer who lacked the hefty punch in the middle-order. The Caribbean was far from being impressive as he scored 113 runs in 12 games at an average of 22.60 wherein he neither stabilized the middle order nor went big towards the end.