“Welcome Sam Curran will be good fun”: Jonny Bairstow tweets to welcome Sam Curran to Punjab Kings for IPL 2023

England all-rounder Sam Curran has become the most expensive player in the history of Indian Premier League auctions. Curran, 24, was expected to be among the most expensive players in the ongoing mini-auction for the 16th season of the IPL but him breaking all past records is unprecedented.

Curran has surpassed former South Africa all-rounder Chris Morris to become the first-ever cricketer to cross the 17-crore-mark in IPL auctions. Having made his IPL debut for Punjab Kings in 2019, Curran will return to the same team as they flexed their financial muscle to acquire Curran’s services for INR 18.5 crore.

Mumbai Indians, who have bought Curran for MI Cape Town in SA20 2022, were the first franchise to show interest in the southpaw. What followed by Royal Challengers Bangalore, Rajasthan Royals, Chennai Super Kings and Lucknow Super Giants also bidding for Curran. An intense bidding battle was eventually won by a resilient PBKS.

Curran, who also spent a couple of seasons at Chennai before missing IPL 2022 due to a back injury, was adjudged the Player of the Tournament in England’s ICC T20 World Cup 2022 winning campaign last month. Considering his current form, Curran was always going to be a hot-shot in this auction.

Jonny Bairstow tweets to welcome Sam Curran to Punjab Kings for IPL 2023

England wicket-keeper batter Jonny Bairstow took to social media platform Twitter to welcome Curran to Kings. Bairstow, who has joined the franchise last season after spending three seasons at Sunrisers Hyderabad, is almost certain of opening the batting with new captain Shikhar Dhawan.

In his seven-year old T20 career, Curran has picked 149 wickets in 145 matches at an average of 25.56, an economy rate of 8.43 and a strike rate of 18.1. More than a handy option with the bat in hand, Curran has scored 1,731 T20 runs at a strike rate of 135.65 including nine half-centuries at different batting positions.