England allrounder Sam Curran broke Chris Morris' record to become the most expensive buy at an IPL auction, when Punjab Kings outbid Chennai Super Kings and Mumbai Indians to sign him for INR 18.25 crore (USD 2.25 million approx.).
At that price, Curran is also the most expensive player in IPL history; he was reunited with the franchise that first brought him into the IPL in 2019.
Curran was the Player of the Final and Tournament at the 2022 T20 World Cup in Australia. Since September this year, he has taken 25 wickets in 14 T20s at an economy rate of 7.08, including 13 wickets in six matches at 6.52 at the T20 World Cup. He has also improved his batting against spin: in 31 T20 innings since 2020, he has an average of 27.07 and a strike rate of 154.69.
Mumbai went as far as INR 18 crore to try and line Curran up alongside Jofra Archer, their other big-ticket England signing, but were eventually outbid by Punjab, who came in with the second-biggest purse for the auction. Shortly after failing to buy Curran, Mumbai managed to buy Cameron Green for INR 17.50 crore, making the Australian allrounder the second most expensive player in IPL auction history.
Sunrisers break the bank for Brook
Curran's England team-mate Harry Brook also made a splash when Sunrisers Hyderabad staved off aggressive bidding from Rajasthan Royals to secure his services for INR 13.25 crore (USD 1.6 million approx.). This is the most a franchise has paid to sign an overseas batter at an auction.
Brook, 23, is set to feature in his maiden IPL season following a breakout year in international cricket. Only two months ago in Pakistan, his first international overseas trip, Brook impressed with his clean power-hitting to win the Player-of-the-Series award after hitting 328 runs at a strike rate of 163.01, in a series England won 4-3.
His superior record in Asia - 581 runs in 16 T20I innings at a strike rate of 167.43 - may have been an attractive proposition for teams. More recently, Brook put behind a disappointing T20 World Cup campaign to blast two centuries in the three-Test series England won 3-0.
