Punjab Kings have acquired the services of star England all-rounder Sam Curran for a whopping INR 18.50 crore at the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 mini auction held in Kochi on Friday, December 23.
Heading into the auction with a massive purse of INR 32.2 crore, Punjab Kings broke the bank to sign Sam Curran, who was adjudged the Player of the Tournament at the 2022 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup in Australia. The 24-year-old was also named the Player of the Match in the 2022 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup final where he helped England beat Pakistan to clinch the coveted title.
Punjab Kings were involved in an intense bidding war with Mumbai Indians (MI), Chennai Super Kings (CSK), Rajasthan Royals (RR) and Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) to rope in Curran. Eventually, the Kings outbid CSK and MI as Curran became the most expensive player ever bought at an IPL auction. Curran broke former South Africa all-rounder Chris Morris’ record, who was bought by RR for INR 16.25 crore at the IPL 2021 mini auction.
Curran earlier made his IPL debut for Punjab Kings against Rajasthan Royals at Sawai Mansingh Stadium in 2019. He took 10 wickets and scored 95 runs for the Kings that season. The England international was then part of the CSK set-up for two years.
In his short IPL career, Curran has played 32 IPL matches, scalping 32 wickets and amassing 225 runs so far.
Punjab Kings also signed Zimbabwe cricket team all-rounder Sikandar Raza for his base price of INR 50 lakh.
Raza became just the fourth Zimbabwe cricketer to bag an IPL contract after Ray Price, Tatenda Taibu and Brandon Taylor.
The 36-year-old Pakistani-born Zimbabwean international stole the limelight during the 2022 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup after he scored 219 runs and claimed 10 wickets in eight matches.
In the remainder of the auction, the Kings bought swashbuckling left-handed batter Harpreet Bhatia for INR 40 lakh while also adding young fast bowler Vidwath Kaverappa, and all-rounders Mohit Rathee and Shivam Singh for their base price of INR 20 lakh.
With the addition of six quality cricketers, Punjab Kings have assembled a squad of 22 players for IPL 2023.
Punjab Kings’ buys at IPL 2023 mini auction
Sam Curran (INR 18.50 crore), Sikandar Raza (INR 50 lakh), Harpreet Bhatia (INR 40 lakh), Vidwath Kaverappa (INR 20 lakh), Mohit Rathee (INR 20 lakh) and Shivam Singh (INR 20 lakh)
#SherSquad, are you satisfied with the picks at the IPL 2023 mini auction?
