Former Indian cricketer turned expert analyst akash chopra criticized IPL team Punjab Kings for deciding to retain England all-rounder Sam Curran, whom they bought for the then-highest bid of Rs 18.50 crore during the mini-player auction for the IPL 2023 edition.
On the contrary, Sam Curran did not live up to the expectations or the price for which he was bought. The 2023 edition turned out to be a mediocre season for him, where his form fluctuated from hot to cold throughout the 14 matches. He played even if some bothered to argue about the 2023 season being his best season individually.
Sam Curran scored 276 runs at a strike rate of 136 with a half-century to his name. It was perhaps his best season with the bat since making his IPL debut in 2019. However, with the ball, Curran was not even close to being at his best, accounting for just 10 wickets with the worst economy rate of over 10. in its history. 4 year IPL career.
His economy rate has been close to 8-9 before last season and he also conceded the most runs in a particular season – 489. Curran’s performance directly raised questions about his dependence and the Punjab Kings’ decision to spend such an amount on it without taking into account its shape.
The only reason why Sam Curran became one of the most expensive entities in the IPL was because of his performance during England Triumph of the 2022 T20 World Cup in Australia where they defeated Pakistan in the end. Curran finished as the second highest wicket-taker of the tournament with 15 wickets, including a 5-wicket haul and was also declared the player of the tournament.
But when he came to participate in the IPL, Curran was nowhere near the level he showed during the WC T20 and Aakash Chopra believes that the Punjab Kings trusted him because there were only 3 all-rounders in the auction for the 2023 season.
“I was very surprised. Why did she hire Sam Curran? They have parked 18.50 crores at one place. I won’t call it a dubious asset, but a very expensive asset. “They sold it for that amount because there were only three SUVs in the small auction.” – Chopra said.
Aakash Chopra blames Trevor Bayliss, claims Sam Curran got lucky in T20 WC 2022
Aakash Chopra claimed that one of the reasons why Sam Curran had an excellent outing with the ball during the last edition of the WC T20 was because of the huge side boundaries in Australia. Chopra highlighted Curran’s poor performance since then in IPL 2023 and SAT20 and stated that he has not done anything significant in the last one and a half years.
“If you look at his performances in the last IPL, SAT20 now or last year, he hasn’t done anything special in the last 12-17 months. “He just played well in the 2022 World T20 and that too because the side limits were very big in Australia.” – Chopra added.
Lastly, the 46-year-old blamed Punjab Kings’ English head coach Trevor Bayliss as the one who retained Sam Curran, who could have returned to the team cheaper than his current price via the RTM card if he had been released in the auction held last time. December.
“He should have been released. There was also a buyback option. You could have gotten it for half the price or even cheaper, but Punjab said they would keep it with them. Is that the connection with Trevor Bayliss? “I don’t know, I’m just reflecting.” – concluded Aakash Chopra.