Sam Curran, who bagged a record INR 18.5 crores deal at the IPL 2023 mini-auction, reflected on nervous times preceding the event and looks forward to his reunion with the Punjab Kings.
There was a sense of anticipation for the premier all-rounders Curran, Ben Stokes and Cameron Green ahead of the IPL 2023 mini-auction in Kochi on Friday, December 23, and as expected, the trio bagged record deals after intense bidding in the second set.
While Stokes and Green went to Chennai Super Kings (INR 16.25 crores) and Mumbai Indians (INR 17.5 crores), respectively, it was Curran who stole the limelight, being roped in by PBKS for a whopping INR 18.5 crores deal, the highest ever bid in IPL history.
Having set his base price at INR 2 crores, Curran prompted an opening bid from MI, and Royal Challengers Bangalore joined in until backing out at the INR 6.40 crores mark. MI remained in the race, with CSK, Lucknow Super Giants, Rajasthan Royals and PBKS too, joining the bidding war. Ultimately, it came down to MI vs the PBKS, the latter managing to acquire the services of the all-rounder after having handed him a maiden IPL gig for INR 7.2 crores back in 2019.
Curran admitted of his nervousness in build-up to the event.
“I didn’t sleep much last night, was a bit excited, also nervous about how the auction was going to go. But yeah, absolutely overwhelmed and incredibly humbled that I managed to get what I did. I never had any expectations to receive that,”
he said on Star Sports show ‘Cricket Live – Auction Special’.
Curran was a part of the CSK setup in 2020 and 2021 and bagged nine wickets, while aggregating 56 runs at a strike-rate of 193.10 in the team’s winning campaign in the latter edition.
He was also impressive in his maiden IPL season with PBKS, wherein he bagged 20 wickets, including a sensational game-defining hat-trick against the Delhi Capitals, and scored 95 runs at a strike-rate of 172.73 in limited opportunities with the bat.
“Obviously, going back to where it all started for me in the IPL with Punjab, where I did my debut season four years ago. So, to be going back there seems fantastic and I am looking forward to joining a few English teammates as well,”
said Curran, who has bagged 149 wickets and scored 1731 runs from 145 T20 matches till date.
“A massively big opportunity, which I’m so excited about, it’s incredible as you can probably imagine. There are so many things running through my mind and yeah it’s absolutely incredible, very overwhelmed.”
The Kings also managed to buy Zimbabwe all-rounder Sikandar Raza (INR 50 lakh) and uncapped India players Shivam Singh (INR 20 lakh), Mohit Rathee (INR 20 lakh), Vidwath Kaverappa (INR 20 lakh) and Harpreet Bhatia (INR 40 lakh) at the auction. They will be led by Shikhar Dhawan at IPL 2023.
