Odean Smith is a Jamaican professional cricketer who has represented his country in the shorter formats of the sport (ODIs and T20Is), as a bowling all-rounder. Before breaking into the senior national team in April 2018 in the T20I format, he was a part of the West Indian squad that had won the 2016 Under-19 ICC Cricket World Cup, the first time that the West Indies had achieved this feat. In the Caribbean domestic circuit, he has played for his come country of Jamaica (2017–Present) as well as Trinidad and Tobago (2018-19) across all 3 formats. In the CPL (Caribbean Premier League), he has turned out for the Jamaica Tallawahs (2017), the St. Lucia Zouks (2018), and the Guyana Amazon Warriors (2019–Present). Following his strong showing in the 2021 edition of the CPL, he was acquired by the Punjab Kings (2022-Present) for INR 6 crores (approximately USD 800k) at the IPL (Indian Premier League) mega auction held in February 2022.
Born Name
Odean Fabian Smith
Nick Name
Odean
Odean Smith as seen in an Instagram Post in January 2022 (Odean Smith / Instagram)
Sun Sign
Scorpio
Born Place
St. Elizabeth Parish, Cornwall County, Jamaica
Residence
Jamaica
Nationality
Occupation
Professional Cricketer
Odean Smith as seen in an Instagram Post in September 2021 (Odean Smith / Instagram)
Manager
He is represented by GGSM (Gillings Global Sports Management), Full-Service Sports Management Agency, Florida, Miami, United States.
Batting
Right-Handed
Bowling
Right-Arm Fast-Medium
Role
Bowling All-Rounder
Jersey Number
58 – One Day International (ODI), T20 International (T20I)
Odean Smith as seen in an Instagram Post in April 2022 (Odean Smith / Instagram)
Race / Ethnicity
Black
He is of Afro-Jamaican descent.
Hair Color
Black
Eye Color
Dark Brown
Sexual Orientation
Straight
Distinctive Features
Toned physique
Short-cropped, afro hair
Affable smile
Sports a trimmed goatee
Religion
Christianity
Odean Smith as seen in an Instagram Post in March 2022 (Odean Smith / Instagram)
Odean Smith Facts
In their 3rd and last group stage match of the 2016 Under-19 ICC Cricket World Cup, the West Indians were involved in a do-or-die encounter against Zimbabwe. Both teams had lost to England and won against Fiji and were locked at 2 points apiece going into this match with England having already qualified for the knockout stage with 3 wins in 3 games. Odean had walked into bat at number 11 with the West Indies struggling at 191/9 in the 41st over. He hung around gamely and stroked 16 runs not out of 26 balls, ensuring his team played out the entire quota of 50 overs and reached a respectable total of 226/9.
His knock proved invaluable in the end as the West Indies edged out Zimbabwe by the narrowest of margins (2 runs) to advance from the group stage. Surprisingly, he played no further part in the tournament as the West Indies went on to defeat the 2-times champion Pakistan in the quarter-final, host team Bangladesh in the semi-final, and title favorites India in the final to lift the title for the first time in history.
He was one of the breakout stars of the 2021 edition of the CPL, finishing joint-2nd on the wickets tally with 18 dismissals to his name. For his performances, he was included in the ‘Team of the Tournament’ by ESPNCricinfo.
He had then made an immediate impact in his debut ODI series, against Ireland, in January 2022. Although the West Indies lost the series 2-1, Odean had scored 84 runs in 47 balls across the 3 matches, often coming into bat in difficult conditions, marking himself out as a valuable lower-middle order option for the West Indies in the years to come. He was also involved in the most memorable moment of the series when he had smashed Irish seamer Joshua Little for a six that saw the ball landing outside the stadium and smashing into Odean’s teammate Sheldon Cottrell‘s car.
Later that month, he found himself at the center of unwanted controversy when he was rotated out of the playing XI of the West Indian team after the 2nd match of the 5-match bilateral home T20I series against England. West Indies had lost that game, leaving the series tied at 1-1. An anonymous voice note, allegedly recorded by a regional cricket commentator, had made it to the Caribbean media. The note had alleged that Odean had been removed from the playing XI because of the inherent bias of the team’s management, referring to the decades-old cricketing rivalry between the island countries (Jamaica, Barbados, Antigua, Trinidad&Tobago, etc.) that constitute the West Indies.
CWI (Cricket West Indies), the governing body for the sport in the region as well as the team’s head coach Phil Simmons had both come out with strongly-worded statements that condemned the note as a nefarious attempt to destroy the unity and harmony of the team, stating that the decision to replace Odean with Rovman Powell for the 3rd match of the series was purely a cricketing one. Rovman went on to score a fantastic century in that match as the West Indies took a 2-1 lead in the series which they eventually converted into a 3-2 series win.
On his IPL debut, in the Punjab Kings‘ opening match of the 2022 IPL season, against the Royal Challengers Bangalore, he had walked into bat on the last ball of the 15th over with the match in the balance. With the Punjab Kings at 156/5, chasing a tall target of 209 runs, 50 runs were still required off the last 31 balls. Although it was not a target that was out of the question, Punjab’s victory was looking tough as Odean was the last recognized batter left in the XI.
He scored 0, 1, and 1 from his first 3 balls and faced his 4th ball when the target had ballooned to a seemingly impossible 36 runs from 18 balls. He then smashed 6, 4, 6, 1, and 6 off the next 5 balls he faced to finish with 25 runs not out off just 8 balls at a superlative strike rate of 312.5. By the time he was done with his assault, the equation had turned to a highly manageable 11 runs from 12 balls. Punjab eventually hunted the target down with 6 balls to spare and Odean was named the ‘Player of the Match’ for his highly impactful knock, announcing himself on the biggest T20 stage in the world with a bang.
In December 2022, Odean Smith was bought for INR 5 million by Gujarat Titans during IPL 2023 auction. It was his base price as well.
