On Friday, England's Sam Curran became the most expensive player in IPL auction history after Punjab Kings bought the youngster for Rs 18.50 crore during the IPL 2023 auction at Kochi.
England's sensational Sam Curran was purchased by Punjab Kings for Rs 18.50 crore, making him the most expensive Player in Indian Premier League (IPL) auction history. He beat the earlier record set by Chris Morris when Rajasthan Royals bought him for Rs 16.25 crore.
SAM-SATIONAL BUY! โค๏ธ, run out of adjectives for Curran in the comments. ๐๐ฅณ pic.twitter.com/oxJrE6AZwx
โ Punjab Kings (@PunjabKingsIPL)18.50 Cr for Sam Curran pic.twitter.com/DbccMmNE2R
โ Rajasthan Royals (@rajasthanroyals)Mumbai Indians started the Curran bidding at Rs 2 crore, swiftly increasing to Rs 4 crore in seconds. At first, Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) and Mumbai were the two teams to make an offer for him, but when RCB withdrew for Rs 6.25 crore.
Rajasthan Royals entered the race. Rajasthan retained the bid at Rs 10 crore before Mumbai increased it by another Rs 25 lakh, totalling Rs 10.25 crore. And then Chennai Super Kings joined the bidding for their former player, with Punjab Kings also entering the bidding war.ย
Before CSK increased it to Rs 14.75 crore, Punjab briefly had the bid at Rs 14.50 crore. Lucknow then entered the competition for Rs 15.75 crore before Mumbai re-entered the competition, only for Punjab to bag Curran for Rs 18.50 crore.
Record Alert ๐จ
Sam Curran ๐๐๐๐ค๐ข๐๐จ ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐ข๐ค๐จ๐ฉ ๐๐ญ๐ฅ๐๐ฃ๐จ๐๐ซ๐ ๐ฅ๐ก๐๐ฎ๐๐ง ๐๐ซ๐๐ง ๐ฉ๐ค ๐๐ ๐๐ค๐ช๐๐๐ฉ ๐๐ฃ ๐๐๐!
He goes BIG ๐คฏ- INR 18.50 Crore & will now play for Punjab Kings ๐ ๐ | pic.twitter.com/VlKRCcwv05
Sam Curran, who had a standout performance at the 2022 T20 World Cup and won player of the Match and Player of the Series awards, was one of the most sought-after players in the pool going into the auction.
ALSO READ:ย IPL 2023 Auction LIVE: Full list of players SOLD
The all-around player, 24, has experience playing in the T20 competition, representing Chennai Super Kings and Punjab Kings, respectively. After being acquired by Punjab for Rs 7.2 crore in 2019, he made his league debut but was dismissed after one season.ย
MS Dhoni's Chennai Super Kings later purchased him before the 2020 season for Rs 5.5 crore, and he played for the team for two seasons before sitting out the 2022 campaign due to back surgery.
In his 32 IPL matches, Sam Curran has scored 337 runs at a strike rate of 149.77 and picked 32 wickets.
ALSO READ:ย IPL 2023 Auction LIVE: Full list of players UNSOLD
A meme fest exploded after Curran became the most expensive player in IPL history. Here's a look at how cricket fans reacted on Twitter:
WELCOME TO THE DEN, SAMMY BOY! ๐๐ฅ pic.twitter.com/tA9IvVnNjq
โ Punjab Kings (@PunjabKingsIPL)Sam Curran after the IPL bidding: pic.twitter.com/JTH1uuoUqP
โ Johns. (@CricCrazyJohns)Left is right
โ Irfan Pathan (@IrfanPathan)Sam Curran right now: pic.twitter.com/gDhUyVdcUf
โ England's Barmy Army (@TheBarmyArmy)Sam Curran sold at Rs. 18.50 cr
Pakistani players watching: pic.twitter.com/7D09OIjKcY
Sam Curran becomes the most expensive player in IPL history at ยฃ1.95million ๐คฏ
Merry Christmas ๐ pic.twitter.com/3AebhK0br3
The dynamics of small auctions have worked spectacularly for . Wish him well with that price tag.
โ Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha)Sam Curran right now!! ๐ค๐ค๐ค pic.twitter.com/cve75P1dAr
โ Alexandra Hartley (@AlexHartley93)Harry Brook Vs Sam Curran: pic.twitter.com/smvCbTEmTC
โ Alexandra Hartley (@AlexHartley93)๐ช๐ผ๐น๐น๐จ๐ต-๐ป ๐ด๐ถ๐ถ๐ซ! ๐คฉ pic.twitter.com/5joVwql3VF
โ Punjab Kings (@PunjabKingsIPL)Record broken, Raining currencies in Sam Curranโs garden..deservedly so..
โ S.Badrinath (@s_badrinath)Sam Curran leaves CSK. pic.twitter.com/SztCk71uaJ
โ yaarivanu_unknownu (@memesmaadonu)Sam Curran, Ben Stokes and Cameroon Green spotted together: pic.twitter.com/E1i8dOsEwn
โ Himanshu Pareek (@Sports_Himanshu)Sam Curran, Cameron Green and Ben Stokes after today's auction pic.twitter.com/2zO9yrK2PN
โ A (@AppeFizzz)MI , Punjab and CSK on Cameroon Green , Sam Curran and Ben Stokes๐ธ๐ค๐ณpic.twitter.com/ccdqdErXXa
โ Paapsee Tannu (@iamparodyyy)