IPL 2023 Auction: Punjab Kings sign Sam Curran at record price of INR 18.25 crore

England all-rounder Sam Curran on Friday became the most expensive player in the history of the Indian Premier League (IPL).

Curran returned to Punjab Kings (PBKS), his first IPL franchise, as the 2014 runners-up paid a mammoth INR 18.25 crore for the all-rounder.

"Back to where it all started! Looking forward to it," tweeted Curran after being bought by PBKS.

In 32 matches in his IPL career, Curran has scored 337 runs at a strike-rate of 149.78, along with 32 wickets as well.

The second set at the IPL 2023 auction on Friday, which had all-rounders, broke records as it saw the top three expensive players in the tournament's history. Australia's Cameron Green, signed by Mumbai Indians (MI) fetched INR 17.50 crore ahead of Ben Stokes, who went for INR 16.25 crore to Chennai Super Kings (CSK).

Stokes, however, is the joint-third most expensive player in history, along with South Africa's Chris Morris. The South Africa all-rounder was bought by Rajasthan Royals (RR) ahead of IPL 2021.

On Friday, Mumbai Indians (MI) started the bid for Curran, who is rated one of the best all-rounders at present. The five-time champions were then joined by Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB). The bidding war went on between the said two teams before Rajasthan Royals (RR) jumped in at INR 7 crore. CSK then entered the race at INR 11.75 crore.

PBKS, who eventually secured Curran, entered the bidding war at INR 13.50 crore. They were joined by Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) at INR 15.75 crore.

Green, a fine player of both spin and pace, will add significant value to MI's top-order. It was RCB who made the first bid for the Australian all-rounder before MI and Delhi Capitals (DC) stepped in. MI and DC fought for the longest time before Mumbai clinched Green ahead of the IPL 2023.

In Stokes' case, the likes of RCB, RR, LSG, SRH were in the bidding war before CSK clinched the England Test captain. He made his IPL debut in 2017 with Rising Pune Supergiants (RPS) before moving to RR the following season.

In the first set, England batsman Harry Brook was the most expensive buy as SRH secured him for INR 13.25 crore.

Rajasthan Royals (RR) made the first bid for Brook, whose base price was INR 1.5 crore. Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) jumped in and the two were involved in a few bids before SRH entered at INR 5.25 crore. The 2016 champions eventually secured the England batsman at INR 13.25 crore.

The 23-year-old Brook is known to be great against spin and scores at an excellent pace. The middle-order batsman, who made his international debut earlier this year, was also a part of England's side that won the T20 World Cup in Australia this year in October-November. However, he managed just 56 runs in five innings.

In England's recent tour of Pakistan, Brook was named the Player of the Series in both the T20I and Test series. Brook finished as the leading scorer in the Test series with 468 runs in three games at an average of 93.60, while he scored 238 runs in seven T20Is.