‘Curran is a Phenomenal Pick, Raza Bought Almost for Free’: Ex-IND Opener Disects PBKS’ Auction

Punjab Kings splurged a hefty sum of Rs 18.5 crore over Sam Curran at the IPL 2023 mini-auctions, making him the costliest player in tournament history. The England all-rounder sparked an intense bidding war in Kochi on December 23 but ultimately, the Punjab franchise broke the back to have Curran on board. He thus broke the previous record of Rs 16.25 crore spent by Rajasthan Royals for buying South Africa allrounder Chris Morris.

While Curran drew a whopping sum, Zimbabwe’s Sikandar Raza was bought by PBKS at his base price of Rs 50 Lakh. Former India opener Aakash Chopra feels that Curran is a superb pick but the Zimbabwe star has been purchased almost for free.

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Speaking in his latest YouTube video, Chopra said, “Punjab had the 2^nd biggest purse in the auction, after Sunrisers Hyderabad from which they bought only seven overseas players. They should have got one more.”

“To be very fair, they have got Sikandar Raza for almost free. But Sam Curran is a phenomenal pick. They have Arshdeep Singh who have already proved his mettle. The team can play either Kagiso Rabada or Nathan Ellis and then Curran; he is your gun.

“Be it bowling in death or middle overs or batting in the lower-middle order, he can do everything and that kind of player you want. And when he’ll play in Mohali, which has bigger side boundaries, that will go in Curran’s favour,” he added.

Chopra further stated that Curran’s selection might not fulfil the purpose of the team from a broader perspective as they failed to get a replacement for last season’s captain, Mayank Agarwal.

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“But has Curran’s selection solved all the problems? Well, I don’t think so. Since you let Mayank Agarwal go, you should have shown interest in picking up an Indian batter. They could’ve picked someone like Manish Pandey and even not him then it could’ve been an overseas player, at least. But they didn’t go that way. So, I’m a little surprised,” Chopra said.

“If you look at the squad and think who would feature in the final XI, then there will Jonny Bairstow in the top-order, Liam Livingstone, Curran will surely be there and one among Rabada and Ellis. Hence, they needed an Indian batter which they didn’t buy,” he added.

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