The England all-rounder Sam Curran was among the long list of unfortunate players who could not be a part of the 2022 edition of the Indian Premier League. The 23-year-old had decided to not give his name for this year’s mega auction as he was still recovering from a back injury.
The player represented Chennai Super Kings in the 2020 and 2021 seasons. He was an integral part of their set-up but was forced to miss the later stages of the previous season due to an injury. The all-rounder took 22 wickets with the ball across two seasons and scored 242 runs at a strike rate of 142.
“I was gutted not to go to the IPL. It was hard to take, but it was the sensible thing to do – to concentrate on playing for Surrey and getting back ready to play some red-ball cricket, which is something I haven’t done for a while with Surrey, I probably could have gone to the IPL, but the advice was for my back to heal properly,”
he said, as quoted by South London Press.
Curran added that the IPL offers a great platform for the youngsters to prove their mettle and learn by spending time with the best players in the game. The Englishman credited the tournament for improvement in his own game over the last couple of years.
“You learn so much from all the players there, guys who have played at that level for a long time. I certainly felt my game has improved from playing in the IPL. When you play against the best you’re always being challenged,”
he added.
Curran first played in the IPL in 2019, playing for Punjab Kings. Next year he was acquired by CSK for INR 5.50 Crore. Quality pace bowling all-rounders are very rare in cricket, which is why he is expected to fetch a huge amount when he returns in the next year’s auction.
