England all-rounder Sam Curran became the most expensive player in the history of the Indian Premier League (IPL) after he was signed by Punjab Kings for Rs 18.50 crore at the mini-auction on Friday.
Curran is a specialist in death over bowling. He was phenomenal in England’s successful T20 World Cup campaign this year. Curran was declared the Man of the Series in Australia after he grabbed 13 wickets with an astounding economy of 6.52.
Curran had made his debut in IPL 2019 while representing Kings XI Punjab (now Punjab Kings) against Rajasthan Royals.
Record Alert 🚨Sam Curran 𝙗𝙚𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙢𝙤𝙨𝙩 𝙚𝙭𝙥𝙚𝙣𝙨𝙞𝙫𝙚 𝙥𝙡𝙖𝙮𝙚𝙧 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙩𝙤 𝙗𝙚 𝙗𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝𝙩 𝙞𝙣 𝙄𝙋𝙇!He goes BIG 🤯- INR 18.50 Crore & will now play for Punjab Kings 👏 👏#TATAIPLAuction | @TataCompanies pic.twitter.com/VlKRCcwv05
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) December 23, 2022
The Punjab franchise had signed Curran in 2019 for Rs 7.2 Crore. This was also the third-highest in the IPL auctions prior to the 2019 season. Curran was released by the Punjab franchise ahead of the 2020 season of IPL. The Northampton-born all-rounder was signed by Chennai Super Kings at the IPL 2020 auction. Curran had entered the auction with a base price of Rs 1 crore. The Chennai-based franchise had eventually decided to shell out Rs 5.5 Crore to acquire the services of Curran.
Curran has so far played 32 matches in the IPL. Curran has picked up 32 wickets and scored 337 runs at a strike rate of 149.78. Curran has two half-centuries under his belt in the cash-rich T20 tournament. Curran kicked off his IPL career on a prolific note and exhibited a brilliant all-round show in 2019.
The Englishman registered his highest IPL score of 55 in the 2019 season. Curran achieved his best bowling figures of 4/11 that season. In the very next season of IPL, Curran scalped 13 wickets. The 2020 season still remains his most successful one, in terms of claiming wickets.
A stunning show in the domestic cricket league in his country helped him earn a spot in England’s U-19 World Cup squad in 2019.
In international cricket, Curran made his debut against Pakistan during the second Test against Pakistan at the Headingley in Leeds. Curran had made his Test debut at the age of 19 years and 363 days. Curran had received his first Man of the Match award just one match later.
Curran made his ODI debut later that month against Australia during the fifth match of the series. Curran represented England in the shortest format of the game for the first time in 2019. He played his first T20I match against New Zealand at the Hagley Oval in Christchurch.
Sam Curran T20 record
Matches played: 145
Runs scored: 1731
Highest: 72*
Batting average: 20.85
Wickets: 149
Best bowling: 5/10
Bowling average: 25.56
Economy: 8.43
