IPL 2018: 5 players who can replace Steve Smith if he is banned

#1 Joe Root

England batsman Joe Root was one of the most-anticipated names going into the 2018 IPL auction as this was the first time he registered himself for the auction to be a part of the T20 league. Unfortunately, he went unsold at the auction that took place earlier this year as the franchises chose to avoid English players due to various reasons.

Along with Virat Kohli, Joe Root is one of the few batsmen in this generation who can be equally good across all three formats. In the 25 matches he has played, he has scored his runs at an average of 39.10 and a strike-rate of almost 129, numbers that most of the batsmen long for in the format.

Root is a like-for-like replacement for Steve Smith as he bats at number three and is a better bet than the Aussie in this format.