Sam Curran juggled school and county cricket at 16; he is used to playing with the big boys from a young age. The effort over the years made him a T20 World Cup winner last month, and in Kochi on Friday, the 24-year-old England all-rounder landed the fattest pay cheque in the Indian Premier League at the auctions.
Punjab Kings broke bank to purchase Curran for Rs 18.50 crore, making him the most expensive player at an IPL auction. He beat Chris Morris's deal of Rs 16.25 crore with Rajasthan Royals. Australian all-rounder Cameron Green and England star Ben Stokes smashed the record books too. Mumbai Indians bought Green for Rs 17.5 crore, while Chennai Super Kings shelled out Rs 16.25 to get Stokes on their side.
Curran and Green are richer than Indian stars K.L. Rahul (Rs 17 crore) and Virat Kohli (Rs 15 crore). Green is expected to fill in the boots of Kieron Pollard, who has retired from IPL.
Curran, a left-arm pacer and an impactful left-handed batter, has been in great touch in 2022. He picked up 25 wickets in 19 games since September this year and delivered the goods for England in the crucial T20 World Cup in Australia in the absence of Jofra Archer, who had starred in the 50-over edition in 2019.
With 13 wickets in six games, including a five-for against Afghanistan, Curran was the player of the tournament. He became the first England cricketer to register a five-wicket haul in men's T20Is and also had an impact in the game against New Zealand, where he bowled three dots in the final over to defend 25 and end with 2/26.
He became even more lethal once Mark Wood sustained a hip injury. Playing his first big final, he held nerves and sent Mohammad Rizwan, Shan Masood and Mohammad Nawaz packing to claim 3/12.
Curran's strengths in the middle
Curran comes from a family of cricketers. His father, Kevin, played two World Cups in 1983 and 1987 for Zimbabwe. His brothers, Tom and Ben, are cricketers too. Tom has played 60 international games across formats, while Ben plays first-class cricket for Northamptonshire.
He has always been a fast learner with the volume of cricket discussions in and around him. Swing is his biggest strength in any format. The youngster can make the ball talk and move it both ways to cause trouble to top-order batters.
Though he is yet to stand out as a batter, the two fifties out of the 337 scored in his short 32-match IPL career for Punjab and Chennai Super Kings highlight his abilities. "We had big players last year, too. We are happy with Sam and Sikandar Raza (for Rs 50 lakh). It is about getting the right balance.
"We had Sam for Rs 7.2 crore a few years ago, and then we lost him to Chennai. These auctions are dynamic. Sam is world-class, and he has played over 140 games," said Ness Wadia, co-owner of Punjab Kings, who added that the franchise had too many changes in the past, which did not bring the title. "Our main objective is to win. We struggled and stumbled in the last few years. You learn from the past, so we have tried to plug the gaps and build a solid team."
IPL has become the hotbed for national team selection as the scouts gauge the nerves and temperament of a player. Cricketers have entered Test teams on the back of T20 records in recent times, and with the growth and experience Curran is gaining, he could be the first left-arm English seamer to pick 100 Test wickets. There are none so far. Bill Voce, who last played in 1947, finished at 98 scalps.
Stokes, the future captain of CSK?
When CSK goes all out to back a player, trust the franchise to foresee leadership potential. Mahendra Singh Dhoni handed the captaincy to Ravindra Jadeja last season. He relinquished the post after eight matches to focus more on his game and requested the former India skipper to return to his role. But Dhoni is 41, and the 2023 edition could be his last season in yellow.
Also read: IPL Auction 2023: CSK strategy for post-Dhoni era
Stokes has been a top player in the pool for many years, and the stakes increased after the T20 World Cup win, where he contributed with an unbeaten 52 in the final against Pakistan.
Being the Test captain of England, he could be the frontrunner to become Dhoni's successor in CSK. "MS has not sent any message about captaincy. We were looking to get an all-rounder, and we are happy to have Ben," said K.S. Viswanathan, the CEO of the franchise.
CSK has also bought the services of senior India batter Ajinkya Rahane for his base price of Rs 50 lakh.
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