- Thursday, March 06, 2025
By: Shubham Ghosh
Ace England all-rounder Sam Curran on Friday (23) was bought by Punjab Kings, one of the franchises of the Indian Premier League (IPL), in the auction of the tournament’s 2023 edition for a record Rs 18.5 crore (£1.85 million).
The 24-year-old Curran, son of former Zimbabwe cricketer Kevin Curran, entered the fray at Rs 2 crore (£200,034).
Mumbai Indians (MI) made the first move for Curran and soon, a bidding war kicked off between them and Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB). The bid soon went up to Rs 6 core (£600,101).
The bidding kept going back and forth between Mumbai and also Rajasthan Royals who were back in the lead at Rs 11.5 crore (£1.15 million). Mumbai then tapped out.
Chennai Super Kings soon jumped in with Rs 11.75 crore (£1.17 million) bid. Both captain MS Dhoni and coach Stephen Fleming backed Curran to perform any role at their side.
Punjab, Curran’s first franchise in the IPL, also joined the contest and after the bidding soared, they had the last laugh to buy the all-rounder at the record price.
Lucknow Super Giants also tried their luck to get Curran.
The all-rounder was the second-highest wicket-taker in T20 World Cup this year with 13 scalps, with best bowling figures of five for 10.
In the shortest format, he has scored 1,731 T20I runs in 109 innings with nine fifties.
Meanwhile, England all-rounder and Test captain Ben Stokes was bought by Chennai for Rs 16.25 crore (£1.62 million).
Stokes entered the Auction at a Rs 2 crore base price.
Rajasthan raised the paddle almost immediately. Bangalore competed with Rajasthan for Stokes, who is also a captaincy candidate.
Stokes has worked with Dhoni and Fleming at Rising Pune Super Giant in the past.
Stokes is the most expensive player ever for CSK, surpassing India bowler Deepak Chahar.
[With ANI inputs]
